The Great Flury
by Remember-Sathair
Summary: [Year of the Griffin] Life gets a little too interesting for Flury to handle, and he gets into some interesting adventures when Elda is kidnapped. Dragonish revolutions and world threatening consequences are sure to follow... [Currently under revision]
1. Dragonish Mayhem revised

Flury was not happy, to say the least. He had spent the last few hours staring at the barstool that was Wizard Wermacht, trying to force him to become a human again. Maybe he really was a barstool. Flury couldn't be sure, and Querida had made it clear to him that Wermacht's family was not happy with their new barstool relative. Flury sighed and pressed again at the vaguely conscious barstool. No luck.

Flury stretched his mud-brown wings irritably and left the bar. The lovely golden Elda and her group of friends were all sitting at the vacant pedestal where Wizard Policant's statue had once stood. Wizard Policant himself crossed the courtyard of the University toting a large pile of books, and Elda's group became quiet and respectful, save for the dwarf Ruskin, who continued talking in his grinding voice.

"Like I said, Elda, it doesn't do any good to be sad about it. Don was bound to marry eventually," the dwarf boomed. Policant entered the main building.

"Yes, but that makes four of my sisters and brothers. Callette, Lydda, Shona, and now _Don_," the golden griffin said sadly, ticking her siblings off on her talon.

"But he had such a big fan club. He was bound to like one of them, you know." Claudia said, putting an arm around Elda's fluffy neck. "You don't need to be so depressed."

"It's just that all the griffins got married on the other continent, and didn't tell me till afterwards. It's _depressing_."

"Look at it this way Elda," Lukin said, "you can get married too someday, and then you can make all of _them_ feel bad." Elda simply crouched and looked sullen. Flury took wing suddenly, and the six students watched him soar over the various buildings of the University and out of sight.

Elda was depressed? _Flury_ was the one who was depressed. She never seemed to spare a second glance for him, and only took time to ask him for help with her essays and whatnot. But that was only because he was a fellow griffin, not someone she was in love with. Yes, now that was depressing. He tossed his head and turned towards Derkholm, flapping laboriously because he hadn't flown in at least two weeks. As he flew over the rolling hills and valleys that had been restored by Querida, he thought about what he had to live up to. Elda was the sister of Kit, a famously renowned griffin wizard, and Don, the most perfect griffin to ever emerge upon the world. Yes, living up to those two would take some work. But as he thought about it, he realized that he was a renowned wizard too. The great Wizard Flurian Atreck, champion of the griffin magic users. Sure. Like he was a champion of anyone. The title simply depressed the already depressed griffin further, and he noticed that he was flying off course. As he veered further in the right direction, he saw that he was not flying alone. Another griffin shape was approaching him; Kit probably.

"Flury!" Kit shouted, swerving towards Flury. "Any luck with that sister of mine?"

"Not really. I think she detests me, personally."

"She doesn't _detest_ you." Kit shouted back. "Elda acts like that towards all the teachers, doesn't she?"

"Yes, but I'm not really your traditional teacher, Kit."

"Elda can be quite stupid about her feelings Flury, so don't look so depressed."

"That's what Blade keeps telling me, too, you know. He's not having much luck with Claudia either, though." Flury told Kit. He did not think the Kit was going to be much help.

"Blade's tactless, that's why. He's like Elda: he doesn't express his feelings very well." Kit said, nodding. They were approaching Derkholm now, and a small herd of sheep was gathered around the stables. "Maybe you're just not open enough to her about your feelings, Flury. Drop hints, or something."

"It could be. But that would be terribly embarrassing for a world renowned wizard to be in love with one of his students; or at least for people to know about it."

"You're not that famous, Flury," Kit said grinning. "Nor do you have much tact when it comes to ladies." Derkholm's enormous veranda approached, its magical guard spell shimmering in the sunlight. The two griffins landed together, and Blade and Derk came running out to greet them.

Blade grinned. "Come for more advice on my sister, Flury?"

"Not today. I need to talk to your father, though." Flury said, embarrassed. He became about the size of Elda, rather than the large griffin that he really was.

Kit looked at him through one eye. "Don't get small like that. There's no need to be embarrassed. Blade consults quite often with Titus about Claudia, you know."

"I do, don't I?" Blade said, rubbing the back of his head. Flury felt even more pathetic.

"I'm NOT consulting anyone except Derk!" Flury said, becoming medium-sized.

"Don't get so defensive, Flury!" Derk laughed. The all took a place on Derkholm's enlarged terrace, and had a long conversation: about Elda, then Luteria, then Flury's new genetics lesson that Derk could help with, then Querida, and a whole host of other things. A lot of time passed, and afternoon phased into evening.

"Oh dear. The sun's setting, and I have to get back to the University." Flury stretched and flapped his wings a bit. He hoped that Elda would not get wind of his visit to Derkholm, either.

"Come back soon Flury. I'll have all sorts of things to talk to you about." Derk said. Flury did not doubt it.

"All of us'll have something to say to you, don't worry." Blade said, yawning.

"See you, Flury." Kit said. Flury nodded and took off in a flurry of brown feathers, waving a talon at the three famous wizards. Kit was right, Flury had no standing in this place when it came to fame.

In the hour it took to reach the University, Flury had not stopped thinking about Elda: the sappy thoughts that seemed to occupy his mind rather often lately. However, every so often a vision of Elda looking absolutely disgusted also entered his mind. He knew he should be thinking about teacher-ly things, but he just couldn't get her off his mind. However, he'd be teaching his students Dragonlore tomorrow, and he'd give them notes on Deucalion and all of the other famous dragons, and he could try and impress Elda with his knowledge. But he knew that that sort of thing didn't impress Elda, and that Elda already knew quite a bit about Deucalion anyway. She knew him personally, in fact.

He looked into the distance, and spotted a dragon winging through the sky. It was quite big, and gleamed golden and white in the setting sun. It was quite far away, but it still spotted Flury speeding through the sky towards the University. It swerved gracefully towards him, and looked at him quizzically.

"You're a pretty big cat-bird." The female dragon boomed. Flury could see now that it was female: it looked slender and serpent-like. Flury immediately made himself smaller.

"No need to be frightened! I was just curious. The cat-bird that I see flying all the time is so very small." She said craning her neck to look at him. "What kind of peculiar wizard are you? I can sense a lot of strong magic coming from you. It's very dtrange magic, though."

"My name is Flurian Atreck. I'm from the other continent, where the griffins live. Why do you call me a cat-bird?" he asked, meeting her gaze with one eagle eye.

"I've heard of a Wizard Flurian, but I'd no idea you were a cat-bird!" she laughed, "I call you that because it's what you strange creatures look like."

"I suppose so. You dragons are big enough to know that you can get away with calling us anything you want," he said irritably.

"I wasn't trying to offend you, wizard! How serious you are!" she said. She seemed carefree.

"Yes, well…" Flury trailed off. The University was fast approaching.

"By the way, I'm called Bolero. I'd like to talk to a wizard like you again." She pointed a huge claw at a nearby valley. "I live over there. Come visit sometime."

"I'll try," Flury sighed. He began to land in the courtyard, and Bolero swept over him in a huge black shadow and a gust of wind. He clacked to a halt on the cobblestones, and saw that Wizard Finn was rushing across to meet him.

"What _is_ it, Finn?" Flury growled.

"That dragon," the wizard replied, pointing towards the sky, "it stole a large amount of gold from a passing caravan today!"

"What of it?" Flury said, looking at Finn. He wanted to go rest in peace and think about Elda. "Dragons steal gold. It's not anything new. I'm going to bed." He was surprised at his own daring in being angry. He did not usually have outbursts like this.

"I just thought you should know! Querida's not going be happy: the gold was payment to the University from the Emir!" Finn shouted back. Flury turned back and simply glared at him.

"It's not my problem, Finn. Go to bed." With that, Flury turned and went to his room, which had once been a row of inaccessible stables. He collapsed onto the huge pile of cushions he used for a bed, and checked his lesson plans briefly.

His head snapped up as he heard a great bellow from the sky. He stretched his wings again and ran outside. Elda was in the middle of the air, in a fighting match with a young dragon. She had no chance against a dragon; even with her magical abilities, Flury knew. He took of in great sweeping circles and rose towards the fight. He summoned as much magic as he could find, knocked Elda out the way, and unleashed a burst of ice at the dragon. Elda fell and tried to get away, but the half-frozen dragon stretched a talon and grabbed her, flying away and blocking Flury's magic as it went.

Flury plummeted towards the ground as the physical force of the dragon's magic hit him, and fell in a heap on the dark cobblestones.

"Flury!" Finn and Umberto shouted as they huffed and puffed towards him. Flury lifted his head in a daze, and then collapsed into unconsciousness.


	2. Off to the South

Flury woke up in his own room, embarrassed and aching, and saw numerous healers in sleeping bags around him. As soon as his head showed any sign of wakefulness, two healers went up to him and explained the situation of his injuries.

"You fell from about a hundred feet, Mr. Flury, and you gave us quite a scare. You broke your right foreleg, I'm afraid, but it can be mended in a couple of days, and you're bruised quite badly," one said, kneeling beside him.

"I wasn't in a healing coma, was I?" Flury asked weakly.

"No, we didn't think it was necessary," the other replied.

"Then it wasn't that bad." Flury said, struggling to his three non-injured feet. "Would you mind setting this? I've got classes to teach and Eldas to go after."

The two healers expertly brought out their materials and wrapped his leg with a splint in five minutes flat. If Flury had had teeth to grit, he would have had them thoroughly gritted, the pain was so nasty. He did know Deucalion's "helping nature along" method of magic, but it drained him a great deal, whereas Deucalion could do it effortlessly.

"Thank you. What time is it?" he asked. He could tell he had only been asleep through the night by the way his bruises still ached.

"The sun hasn't even risen," the healer replied. Flury nodded and took his worn bag from the wall. It was extremely difficult to manage with only one foreleg, because he had to balance on his hind legs. He limped out of his room, cautiously avoiding healers and their sleeping bags. The two that had set his leg had already packed up and were waking their drowsy counterparts.

As he entered the courtyard he saw a nasty sight. There was Querida, sitting on the plinth, and glaring at him quite nastily. Flury immediately shrank, and hobbled over to the snaky wizard.

"Do you realize the set-to you caused by not sending _any_ warn spells? We could have _helped,_ Flury, and you had to go and play the hero. Wizard Derk's daughter is now officially missing, and Kit and Blade set off on their journey to the other continent last night! The only people connected to her still left on this continent are Derk and her little group of friends," she hissed.

"You're the only one capable of traveling large distances now, Flury. I'm setting the task to find her upon your shoulders, and you _will_ come back with her flying next to you, or I'll--" Querida apparently couldn't think of anything horrible enough to threaten him with. Flury shrank quite a bit more as he heard this.

"I need to heal myself first," he said to her.

"Deucalion is out looking for her, if you must know. Do it yourself." Querida replied, guessing his mind. She translocated with a bang, and left the tiny Flury shuddering at her mere presence in the courtyard. He immediately became larger and limped back to his room. The healers were gone, so he felt around in his mind and drew out his healing power. He felt the leg mending efficiently, and deviated a bit of it to heal the bruises. It left him feeling as if he had just flown over the ocean and back again, though the injuries were mended.

This was one of his fantasies came true, he reminded himself, and the phrase "Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it," echoed in his mind. He set an alarm spell to go of in four hours, and fell asleep again.

The spell came much too soon for Flury's liking; but he felt quite a bit better even so. He got up and tested his leg shakily, removing the splint with a claw. It was completely healed now, to his relief, and he took his bag and stuffed everything to do with Dragonlore in it, then walked out his room.

Thankfully, all of the students seemed to already know where he was going, and a few of the older ones saluted his as they passed. Elda's group was now in their second year, and they rushed over to him when they saw him. He noticed with a bit of irritation that they looked incomplete without Elda there.

"We heard that you're going to save Elda." Lukin stated feverishly. He seemed to not like talking to a prominent wizard like Flury in such a conversational way. It irritated Flury even further.

"There's no need to look so scared of me, my good man. I might be your teacher, but I'm still quite close to your age," the griffin said, trying to be patient.

"Lukin's always like that." Olga replied, staring at Flury haughtily. "But we're here to wish you luck, and we wish we could help you." All of the others nodded in agreement.

"Thank you. I'm glad that at least some people believe in me. Querida threatens me as if I'm going to come back in five days saying it's too hard to accomplish," Flury said. He really was thankful. "I'll be back with her as soon as possible, don't you worry," he told them much more confidently than he felt. They all simply looked at him with expectant faces, and then hurried off to their next class. He took off laboriously and flew a course for Bolero's valley. She could help him, he knew. He felt quite guilty now that he was finally up and after her, that he had been so impatient with the dragon. It took five minutes to reach the valley, and there was the white Bolero, reclining in a dragonish way on the valley floor. She was three quarters the size of a house, and filled up the little valley quite snugly. She spotted him and rose up to look at him.

"Wizard Flurian!" she boomed, gesturing to the large rock embedded in the hillside next to her. He swooped and landed hastily on the rock, almost losing his balance.

"You cat-birds are so funny!" she said as he lay in an undignified heap.

"I'm just not in top form today. I'm actually here to ask you about a young dragon that passed this way last night. It kidnapped my friend Elda." He thought it right to call Elda his friend rather than his student.

"She was a human?" the dragon questioned with great interest.

"No, she was a 'cat-bird'," said Flury.

"Even more interesting! What did the fledgling look like that took her? I have a suspicion about who took this cat-bird."

"It was red with a lot of golden and white scales, and it had very powerful magic. It knocked me out of the air and injured me with magic alone."

"I think it was Senera. Could you tell if it was male of female?"

"No. It was quite slender, the way it flew, but all young dragons are like that, aren't they?"

"It was Senera. Senera is a male, and he's a little revolutionary in the making. He left the northern reaches and went to join up with the dragon revolution. Naturally there are only about five dragons in it, but they're all fighting males, and quite dangerous. Are you proposing to go and save this cat-bird, because if you are, I'm coming." There seemed to be no arguing with Bolero, and she was quite serious now.

"Of course you can come with me. I need help, for sure." Flury agreed. He was glad the great white dragon would be coming along.

"Deucalion won't like this, but he really doesn't have any choice, now does he?" she said, grinning and getting ready to take off. She turned to Flury again. "Their lair lies in the far south, and it'll take us at least a week to get there. We can translocate if you like later on, but we'd end up in the middle of the desert, and maybe actually ahead of Senera and Elda." She gave Flury a bit of time to get into the air, and then took off, the wind from her gargantuan wings making the trees in the valley whip about.

Together, the dragon and griffin flew into the south; towards the Empire and the dragon revolutionaries and the great deserts.


	3. Finally There

As Bolero and Flury flew together, the wind became stronger and hotter, and the sun became harsher and brighter. During the night, when there were clouds, they flew above them, and the waxing gibbous moon lit up the surroundings to create a completely alien landscape. They were beautiful, and Flury had to say that he was enjoying this adventure.

They went down three times a day to gather their strength, and they became close friends as they went. Though the dragon dwarfed him, he still though of her as simply another griffin, whom he could talk to and open up about his feelings. After the second day, he was telling her all about his feelings for Elda, and she was telling him about her ambition to have a family of her own. She was very talkative, and her talkativeness affected Flury a great deal, creating a completely new griffin. It turned out that Bolero was an extremely powerful magic user who had somehow offended Deucalion, and that she had been glad to go out of hiding from the valley.

"Flury, why don't you tell Elda when we find her?" Bolero suggested on the third night, as they looked at the lovely clouds. "You're quite nice, for a cat-bird. Why doesn't she like you?"

"She doesn't like when I'm apologetic," he replied sadly, "I really can't help it, though. I think Querida finds it irritating as well-" he was interrupted as an extremely quick moving object hurtled into him. It knocked the wind out of him completely, and he fell through the clouds. He managed to spread his wings and fly back up to Bolero, and found her hovering next to a motley group of griffins, frightening them with a snarling tone.

"What on earth were you thinking? You could have killed the poor thing!" she roared at the group.

"Sorry ma'am, but we thought he was that rogue griffin. He looked like 'im," said the small gray griffin, struggling to hover properly.

"What rogue griffin?" Flury called at them.

"Wizard Flurian!" the gray one shouted, looking quite surprised. All five griffins made some sort of salute, which was made quite difficult by their hovering. Flury nodded and glided over to them.

"What rogue?" he repeated sternly. Bolero was impressed at how respected Flury was.

"Laugriar. We've been after him for at least a year. He's the same color as you, and he's always seen flying with a dragon," a white female replied.

"So naturally you thought I was him. I can see why you were so sudden. But how did Laugriar get over here, may I ask?" Flury asked. Laugriar was a dangerous convict, and Flury himself had fought the criminal down and jailed him a year earlier.

"We don't know. We got reports about him from some legionaries of the Empire, really. We don't know if he's even really here, to tell the truth," replied a third tan one.

"Well, it's prudent of you to be searching for him, but I'm also on a mission." Flury said.

"I thought you were teaching at the University, sir," said the white one.

"I was. But a dragon kidnapped Wizard Derk's daughter Elda recently, and I was sent by Wizard Querida to find her. You all know Elda, I presume?" The five nodded. "She was kidnapped by a young dragon revolutionary called Senera. Do you know of him?"

"That's him, it is!" screamed the first one. "He was seen flyin' with a golden griffin on some sorta magical leash! That musta been Elda!"

"Yes, yes. Do you know where they were headed?" Flury asked, tossing his head about expectantly.

"Nothing, except that they were going south," replied the tan one. Flury sighed.

"I see. Well, the best of luck to you. I must be on my way." With a quick nod to Bolero, they both flew off into the distance as fast as they could.

"So now revolutionaries are in league with _cat-birds_?" Bolero shouted to herself once they were out of earshot. "What is our race coming to?"

"I don't understand." Flury said, rising up to flap next to the dragon. "Why do dragons need the help of griffins?"

"It's political, I'll bet you, because dragons are powerful enough on their own not to need cat-birds. It's positively baffling, however you look at it."

"It is," Flury agreed, "but convicts like that won't be any use to their revolutions. Griffins are naturally educated, and the criminals are almost always stupid. Laugriar was not too bright, let's just say."

"Is it something to do with the cat-birds themselves, I wonder? They might be building an army of sorts, and might need all sorts of creatures to be on their side. They'll have humans for sure, and maybe some dwarves, if they're going for something like that."

"But why would dragons do that?" Flury asked her. It wasn't making sense for the dragons to be revolutionaries, because dragons were naturally some of the most powerful creatures in the world in the first place.

"There have always been two sides to the dragon population. The wise who believe that the races should all deal with themselves, and the foolish who believe that dragons are naturally superior in the hierarchy of races," she explained. "It's foolish because though dragons are wise and powerful, no race has the right to be superior in this world, and dragons live for such a long time that it wouldn't be quite that fair."

"No, the world would become some sort of wasteland if that happened." Flury said, musing to himself what it would be like to be ruled by dragons. There were hierarchies in griffin society, but the government had been developed over thousands of years to become very educated and reach the pinnacle of perfection. As a result, it didn't exercise much power over its subjects.

The fourth day came and went in scalding heat, and they finally reached the desert. It spread before them like a gigantic tan rug, and when they came to land it was only at scattered oases; for Flury couldn't bear the heated sands during noon hours. During the night they shivered and huddled together to keep warm, though Flury benefited from this the most. The fifth day came when they reached the capitol of the Empire, and the deserts became a mild sort of warm grasslands, with hills for Bolero to roost in comfortably. Flury went immediately to the Emperor Titus, who received him readily into the great palace.

He spent a time in Titus' palace, and learned that in the nearby region to the west there was a gathering of dragons. Naturally, no one liked to disturb dragons, so not much had been learned about this unlikely gathering. Flury left a day later, with carefully penned notes (about the gathering) stuffed into his bag. He was glad that they had given him food in the palace, as he wasn't very good at hunting for himself. He returned to Bolero, relayed the news, and then they set off to the west.

A day later they were following a small river the led west, and were entering rockier lands closer to the ocean. That was where they found the gathering. They were almost seen, but Bolero found a cave in the rocky cliffs big enough for both of them.

"I can't continue, if you're going for secrecy, my good wizard. Dragons are no good for stealth missions, I'm afraid," she said sadly.

"I thought about that, and I think you should send some sort of message to the dragons in the north. They need to know about this, because it looks dangerous." Flury replied, not meeting her eyes. He would have liked the stable mass of dragon behind him while confronting these massive, fire-breathing titans. It looked as if he was alone, as he had been all his life.

"I've already sent an urgent warn spell, but they won't be here for at least a week. We have to save this little cat-bird before anything can be done to her," she said, digging her talons into the ground. Flury had learned that she did not like to feel useless.

"Build up your strength so you can translocate the three of us as far away as possible. I think that would be best," he told her stoutly. She didn't reply

"Don't worry; I'll be back with Elda in tow, and I'll see what sort of revolution these dragons are planning."

"Goodbye," Bolero growled, "and good luck, wizard. Come back soon."


	4. The Rescue

A/N: I just noticed a few grammar errors in my first few chapters, so please try and disregard them as I attempt to fix them :D.

There was Elda, crystal clear and golden in the center of a huge, rocky valley. Flury was crouched upon an outcropping of the depressing, brownish stone and thinking of how on earth he could possibly get to her. His thoughts kept jumping back to Bolero, sitting stagnant and feeling useless.

Elda had spent some time yelling at the top of her lungs, insulting her surrounding captors with some extremely colorful vocabulary, then she had tried to break the magical bindings, and then finally she had lapsed into a dangerous sort of silence. The griffins surrounding her were all filthy creatures, with hostile, hungry looks to them. The dragons were even scarier, with hooked and serrated claws that connected to huge paws almost as big as Flury. These dragons were _big, _and it was hard for Flury to believe that they had been hidden for a very long time.

Flury decided that he would have to translocate, and simply grab Elda and translocate again. That was the crude way, because Flury knew he could create a complete time stop; the magical skill that made him famous. A time stop was advanced magic that could go wrong too easily, and only years of intensive study and practice could possibly prepare a wizard for the difficulties involved. Flury would have to create an anti-magic barrier around himself and Elda separately, then immediately stop time completely, allowing for free movement of both griffins while the rest of the world stayed frozen in time.

However, there were cruel side effects to that magic, for it took almost all of the energy from the user, and if it wasn't used in moderation, it could drain years from the user's life. Flury knew he didn't have the resources or the energy needed to create a full time stop, so he settled upon translocation. He decided to wait until night fell, but as a result, hours of endless boredom followed; until the sun finally set.

When the cloak of dark was completely covering the area, Flury crept quietly up as close as he could get without disturbing anything, carefully treading among the loose, stony landscape. When he was sure that he was positioned as close as possible, he mustered his courage, and then simply went.

BANG! He grabbed Elda as quick as his reflexes would allow him, and Elda screamed, her guards screamed, and the dragons roared mightily. He translocated in a mad dash to get away, and suddenly found that he had found Bolero's cave. Elda had realized by then that she needed to shut up, and Bolero had been tensed and ready to translocate. She had guessed Flury's decision to wait for the dark of night, and had heard the roaring and screeching from the nearby valley.

She immediately reacted, stretching her great claws and scooping the two griffins up. She then exerted an amount of magical energy that was more than Flury had ever felt before, and they were suddenly back at the University with a bang.

"H-how did you translocate so fast and so far?" Flury stammered. He felt completely drained of energy.

"My magic is greater than yours, and I'm also quite a bit older." Bolero replied shortly. Flury could see her breathing heavily, but she showed no other signs of exhaustion.

"You have my thanks, both of you." Elda said, looking at them both admiringly.

"No need to thank us, little cat-bird. We were just doing our job." Bolero replied, turning to look at the little golden griffin. Flury felt his feathers fluffing up with pride. He had _done_ it! He had shown Querida, and he had saved Elda!

"Your job?" Elda asked.

"Sort of. Flurian was set with the task of your rescue, and I became his partner." Bolero answered cheerfully. She had already recovered from her huge magical accomplishment.

"Your translocation was amazing, even for a dragon!" Elda exclaimed, noticing their surroundings, "I don't think even Deucalion could do _that_!"

"I'm skilled at it, like your brother Blade is."

"You know Blade?" Flury asked in surprise.

"Vaguely, I'll admit. I also have to admit that I was also taught by Deucalion, when I was a young dragon."

"You were!" the griffins said in unison.

"Naturally," the dragon said absentmindedly. Flury could see that she wasn't going to answer anything more, and Elda was getting much the same impression.

"Flurian, I think we still have more work to do." Bolero quickly changed the subject. "This revolution worries me." Flury could see the change that their short journey had wrought over Bolero. She had nearly abandoned her carefree attitude, in exchange for a serious, _thinking_ sort of personality. It disturbed the brown griffin.

"I think we have some sort of duty, Flurian, and we must see what we can do." Bolero was looking at Flury, her eyes burning with restrained passion.

"Is it really our duty, Bolero?" Flury asked cautiously.

"This encompasses your race as much as mine. You do work for your government, and as you said, your government probably won't do much about it. I think you are responsible, too, and that since you are the only one knowing, you must help provide the solution. Is my judgment wrong, do you think?" Bolero asked him, and he felt as if she were scanning his very being with her soulful green eyes.

"No. I will help you." Flury said, and Bolero turned her gaze upon Elda.

"I'll help too. You two helped me, so it's the least I can do." Elda looked stubborn and confident.

"You are sure?" Bolero asked. Elda replied with a nod.

"We need to tell Querida, and I assume Deucalion already knows?" Flury asked, tallying the situation inside his head. "Derk should know, and we need to travel to the other continent to warn the griffins. Can you think of anyone else?"

"No, and I think Querida would tell all of the diplomats and suchlike." Elda commented. Flury was bursting with joy at the thought of making all of those journeys with Elda, and being with her for such a long time. He was hard pressed not to give a big, griffin grin in Elda's direction. But again, he was thinking, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."

"So, we need to tell Querida right away," said Elda.

"Right-o!" Bolero was back to being cheerful. At least now that she was getting her way, Flury noticed ruefully. He had just volunteered himself (again) for something he really didn't want to do. What he wanted to do was tell Elda he loved her, and to go back to teaching in the delicate peace of the University. Of course that wasn't going to happen for a while. Bolero had such a split personality, he found himself thinking, and he had a lot to deal with in the near future. Even her vernacular had changed when she was serious, and he found that he didn't like that change.

He trotted away to the Spellman Building while Elda and Bolero had a nice chat. He looked back suspiciously, with a meaningful glance at Bolero. He didn't want her telling Elda about his feelings. Bolero gave a cheerful wave and returned to her talk with Elda, completely disregarding him. He trusted the dragon, though, so he continued to walk into the building. It was much too small for a griffin of his size to walk around comfortably, so he immediately shrank to become a little smaller than Elda.

"Corkoran?" he shouted as he saw the neck-tied wizard walk past, looking weary.

"What?" Corkoran looked at Flury with a slight glare.

"Er, I just wanted to know why you were here." Flury said. He hoped he didn't sound patronizing. "I thought you were on extended vacation."

Corkoran sighed. "I was, until Querida made some sort of wizards council meeting. She called every important wizard that lives on this continent to tell us about some rogue griffins and this dragon revolution."

"She already knows?" Flury felt a bit crestfallen. He had to admit that he had wanted to be the first one to know. The griffin nearly bowled Corkoran over as he charged past, into the council chamber. The High Chancellor Querida sat there, looking positively vicious, as she sorted out a stack of papers. The torches illuminating her face gave it long, disturbing shadows.

"You do have Elda with you, don't you?" was the first thing she hissed at Flury.

"I do. I'm actually hear to inform you a bit more of this revolution," he said, hoping she wouldn't laugh.

"Then do tell. We heard of it from Deucalion, and I called a wizards' council meeting immediately after I heard the news,"

"It's about a day west of the capitol of the Empire, in a rocky region. There are at least," he thought a bit, "fifteen dragons, and two hundred griffins residing there right now. The dragon who kidnapped Elda, Senera, was one of them." That was about all he knew.

"At least it's news." Querida sighed. "Fifteen dragons is a lot, and I'm getting older. I can't decide who to appoint in charge of the operation to stop this."

"I suggest Blade and Kit." Flury said with surety. "Or maybe Derk," he added as an afterthought.

"Leave me for a while. I need to think everything over."

Flury skulked out, and then trotted back to his two new partners. They were sitting, surrounded by a number of students. The sun had risen quite a bit ago. Elda's friends were hugging her and telling her how thankful they were that she was back. As Flury walked towards them, he got quite a shock. Corkoran walked up to Elda, and told her something.

"Elda," he said with a bit of weariness.

"Yes?" she replied cheerfully. She was giving him her full attention, but the other students were asking Bolero questions, and Bolero was happily answering.

"I just want to apologize for being afraid of you before. I'd also like to apologize for the time when you flew me all the way up to the astronomy tower, and I didn't even thank you." He was apparently finished, so he walked away, and out of the courtyard. Elda looked extremely shocked.

"You know, I used to be in love with him!" she chuckled to Flury.


	5. Mindless Sea

Wonder overcame Flury as he flew towards the great cerulean plain that was the sea. It always gave him a thrill to see the waves crashing into the immaculate sands on the shores, and the gleam of the sun (or the moon) on the water. Gliding rather tiredly next to him was Elda; her golden feathers gleaming like overly polished brass in the rising sun. 

The griffin and his two newfound friends had left before the crack of dawn, and they were now witnessing a magnificent sunrise. Flury didn't know if it had been worth it, though; as he and Bolero had had to nearly drag Elda by the scruff of her feathery neck from her repose. She had been very indignant at being awoken so early, claiming that Bolero had said they would be leaving at dawn, and, as she pointed out, it was before dawn. Bolero had simply given of a dragonish air of superior-ness, as if rolling her eyes at Elda.

Flury didn't mind so much their squabbles, but he did mind if they were going to drag _him _into them. Both had insisted that he had to back them up, and he had gotten through _that _by mustering as much magic as he could, then slipping away. Of course, the two ladies had insisted on scolding him about it later. None of them felt much like talking, except every fifteen or twenty miles, when Flury and Elda had to take a rest on Bolero's broad back. They were not built for endurance as Lydda was.

As the day dragged on, Flury became hungry, and as he became hungry, he was filled with second thoughts. Did he _really_ need to return to the griffins? Couldn't they have sent Lydda or some other messenger instead? He supposed glumly that they hadn't thought this through enough, but he accepted it. Bolero, though she was his friend, had a way with words in crucial, deciding moments. It also helped that she was ten times his size, wielded the ability to breathe fire, and had an extremely unstable, inexplicable split personality.

As Flury reflected upon it, he admitted grudgingly that teaching at the University, though it was fun, didn't help international diplomacy as much as his sporadic journey did.

The journey dragged on and on, and conversations were sparse and irregular. Bolero, though her flying was supported by magical means, visibly sagged. Both Elda and Flury were becoming salty and irritable, as well as very, very tired. Bolero had decided that she would carry a pouch of food and a barrel of water on her side, but it was a difficult maneuver for two taloned griffins to manage while in midair.

After a few days, each one of them was on the verge of slight insanity, and they were banking on reaching land very soon. At least, they all hoped they would.

Finally, after long last, the coast drew near. It soon swallowed up the sea, and purplish-black mountains became visible on the horizon. There was a large guard tower with a huge flame atop it, and it reminded Flury of nothing so much as the inferno that had raged from Senera's young, but still gigantic jaws. Thinking of dragons, he now felt very ignorant, as if he had only read the first book in a series of thousands about dragons. They were a bit like elves, with otherworldly personalities and a very noticeable presence. Dragons were dangerous to anything, and any dragon could bat Flury aside as if he were an annoying gnat. It was probably quite nasty to swallow a gnat, he reflected, grimacing slightly. Neither of his companions noticed.

He was so indifferent about his outer surroundings, so caught up in his own thoughts that he landed with a few undignified somersaults.

"Are you alright?" Bolero asked raggedly, picking him up in a few ivory claws. He felt like a rag doll.

"I'll live," he croaked, frowning at how salty Bolero smelt.

"You don't smell very good yourself, little cat-bird," replied the dragon, wrinkling her nose. Flury didn't care to know how she had known what he was thinking, as he was too busy staring at Elda (his eyes half closed, of course.)

Elda was sprawled on the sand, looking dull and unkempt, with a mucky tuft of fur for a tail. Flury's own tail wasn't really that nice either, though, so there was no complaining to be done.

"Is there somewhere where we can get cleaned up?" she asked, opening an orange eye accusingly at him. He winced a bit at the headache-inducing and intense eye, but he did spare his thoughts for the question.

"As I recall, this is an area of the coast called Cursora. There's an outpost nearby, but I don't know if the humans, or the rogue griffins for that matter, haven't taken it. I guess it couldn't hurt too much, as we have a dragon on our side, but we'd better be careful."

"Good enough for me." Elda growled in reply, dragging herself to her feet and spreading her wings slightly. "I know it sounds girly, but I can't stand being like this for another moment!"

"I'm used to being dirty," Bolero said absentmindedly, propped up on her back legs, looking at the watchtower. The sun glinted off her scales blindingly.

"Hadn't we better get going?" Flury said, sighing at their caution free attitudes. He spread his wings yet again, and took off with a very large amount of difficulty.

"Not very airworthy, are you Flury?" Bolero chuckled, turning her attention from the tower. He turned his own piercing golden gaze at her and glared, hovering jerkily. This was all her fault anyway.

Elda flapped her wings quickly, but soon discovered that she wasn't getting anywhere. She began powerful, slow flaps, which took her up into the air, even if it was a bit graceless. After the two griffins had gotten far enough toward the small tower, Bolero began her own take off, grinning a very annoying grin at them.

WHOOSH- Flury was interrupted in midair, by something hurtling right past him, and knocking him back with the force of its speed.

"What is that?" Elda screeched at him.

"I don't know!" Flury replied, wasting his breath as the object sped straight back at him. He flopped out of the way, spiraling on one of his muddy wings. The object stopped.

It was a very small, very vicious looking little griffin. It was so small that even a small Flury would have dwarfed it considerably. However, the most startling aspect of the creature was the look in its eyes. The look was not the febrile intelligence of wild animals, nor the direct gaze of a creature capable of speech and complex society. It wasn't like a dragon's superior, otherworldly gaze either. It was cold and empty, the result of some unfathomable circumstance.

"Who are you?" Bolero boomed. The griffin did not answer. "Be that way," Bolero said flicking her claw, with a huge burst of magic that knocked Flury even further. The griffin plummeted to the ground, not even attempting to fight Bolero's magic.

"There's nothing there," Bolero said with wonder and fear.

"What do you mean?" inquired Elda.

"There was no mind to fight me, nor an intellect to control, even to listen to. It was utterly empty, as if it had no soul or spirit. I've never- I've never seen this before." A totally uncharacteristic fear was entering her voice.

"What's so awful about that?" Elda asked irritably.

"How can something exist with nothing there? It's fine for inanimate things: rocks and the like, but for something that can move and make decisions? What sort of thing could have such an unearthly existence?" Bolero was now staring at the clouds moving lazily across the sky. "How?"


	6. Rendezvous

The incident with the evil griffin left Bolero in a pondering mood, but Flury was simply too tired and far too irritable to be of much help to Bolero's inquiries. Elda was sitting quietly, flicking her tail back and forth with the air of a bothered cat. They had located a small valley about five miles from the outpost in Cursora. The inhabitants of the watchtower had not attacked them. On the contrary, they had locked themselves in and would simply answer neither Flury's earth-shaking knocks (eventually he had thrown himself against the door in frustration) nor Bolero's magical promptings. They were scared stiff, as far as Bolero's practiced mind readings could tell.

The fire lit up Elda's face and created exaggerated shadows, making her look sinister and exhausted simultaneously. She rustled her feathers and broke the silence.

"So, where to next?" Flury could hear exhaustion in her voice.

"Our capitol is located in the central province of Nisila. As far as we know, it could be infested with rebels by now," Flury began, "The main problem is the fact that we might be facing an army of griffins, as well as humans and dragons, once we get there. However, I really can't think of anywhere better to find out what's happened."

"Do we have a choice?" Bolero asked.

"Knowing our government's reluctance to deal with things outside the capitol, I shouldn't think so," Flury said. He was tired, and the few hours rest they had procured had not rested him nearly enough.

"I suppose that means we'll be leaving at dawn, then," said Elda furiously. "I'm _tired_, and Querida never said we were in a hundred mile dash to get there."

"Elda, we must leave as soon as we can," Bolero said gravely. "I am sorry, but something is threatening our world. Dragons are too powerful to be left alone for too long, therefore we must stop them before it is too late."

"I'm tired, too. But Elda, I think Bolero's right. Please, get some rest," Flury pleaded. He was so much in earnest that Elda couldn't help lying down and closing her eyes. Her tail flicked to fro for a while, and then it settled as Elda fell into her repose.

"She is growing up, I think," Bolero said quietly. "Don't take her crankiness personally, my dear Flurian. She is growing up, but she is tired, too."

"I know," Flury muttered, settling into his own sleeping position. Bolero had known what he was thinking, but he didn't mind as much as he had before. Good night Elda, he thought.

"Good night Flurian," came Bolero's voice.

"And you, Bolero."

The next morning came uneventfully, save for Elda's repeated grumbling at being awoken so early. They set off towards Nisila, flying as close to the ground as possible and coming down to rest every so often. Flury was feeling chronically exhausted now, as was Elda. They lagged behind as they used their mundane flying skills. Bolero glided gracefully ahead on her magical wings. She occasionally looked back in worry as the griffins lagged behind, further and further away.

It really was a shame Elda was so tired, Flury thought to himself. She hadn't the time to enjoy the wondrous country passing below her. Unlike the country she herself came from, the land of the griffins was a wild place, filled with old growth forests and seldom visited crystal lakes. The temperature was moderate, but it was getting chillier as they flew inland. Flury supposed that warm ocean currents from the far south kept the temperature warm, but he wasn't very well versed on meteorology. He felt a swell of pride in his heart, knowing that this was his land, the wild continent of the griffins. This overcame his tiredness for a short time, and he soared swiftly along next to Bolero, spreading his brown wings more widely.

During one of their frequent rests, Elda suddenly thought of something. "Flury, Don and Calette are still here! Them and their spouses! What if they're in trouble?" She was so alarmed that Flury became alarmed as well.

"I-I should think they could take care of themselves, Elda," he said. He hadn't really thought of the repercussions it would have on Elda if this revolution were real. Don and Calette were not magic users, but they were both very clever and strong. Don had grown to be at least as big as Kit, and Calette was still very large compared to Elda herself.

"We'll deal with that when we get there, Elda," Bolero said calmly, "You'll make yourself sick with worry if you dwell on it."

"I'll try, but I still can't help but to be worried," Elda replied. "If only Blade and Kit were here!"

"This has become our task," said Bolero, "Blade and Kit will feel if something happens to you, Elda. Besides, your magic is equally as strong as theirs. You simply need to start relying more on yourself."

"It's not that I don't try!" Elda exclaimed, "But everyone's been babying me ever since I was little! I'm the youngest griffin, and the smallest one too, so no one _ever_ expects me to do _anything_! I suppose that having the protection of so many brothers and sisters and wizards all my life has conditioned me." She was calming down.

"I can't say I can relate, Elda. I'm an only child," Flury said, "I do think I've always been surrounded my stupid cousins and our over-civilized government. I think it forced me to think with more clarity. I know I would never run a whole country the way they do."

"Can't you run for office or something?" asked Elda, glad for the distraction. Flury was becoming a lot less defensive now that he was away from his cousins and the hubbub of the University.

"Well, I could," said Flury. "But I don't think you understand how it works. We're not exactly a monarchy, but we're not a democracy either. I don't think we'd be considered a military government, because we really don't have a strong army. The country's top wizards pick the governing body, but as I'm not in the council of wizards, I can't help pick stronger leaders. And since I'm not on the council, they obviously don't like me that much." This was as uncomplicated as Flury could make it.

"You could go push a mountain out of shape," Bolero advised.

"They'd just barricade themselves in their offices," Flury replied glumly. He really didn't like the council of wizards. In his opinion, none of them were nearly as powerful as himself. However, he considered it a rude thing to mention.

"Well, obviously there's going to have to be some sort of reform," Elda grumbled. "I'm beginning to think these top wizards are right idiots. They're obviously not as powerful as they should be, speaking in terms of magic."

"Well, no," Flury replied simply.

The conversation could have continued further, but they all were interrupted by a scream from the woods to the east of their clearing. Flury and Elda, forgetting their tiredness, leapt into the air and flew to the source of the noise. Their griffin ears were extremely keen. Bolero obviously thought she need not come. She was looking at them sharply, but neither griffin saw that.

They found the source of the noise, and it surprised both of them. It had not occurred to either of them that a creature so small could make such a human noise. It was a fox, of all things, and it was screaming despairingly, rather than in danger.

As Flury and Elda circled and landed, the fox screeched at them, "LOOK AT ME! What's happened to me?" He was sobbing in a most pathetic way. Flury was confused. He hadn't thought foxes _did_ sob.

"Flury?" exclaimed the fox, bounding up to him. "I suppose you can't tell who I am."

"Er… Not really," said Flury inconclusively.

"I've put under some stupid spell by a dragon! It made me into the creature I despise most!" the fox cried.

"Hessian?" Flury asked, not believing his own ears.

"Never thought you'd forget my voice, Flury. I'd have thought it was unforgettable." Flury could see now that it was Hesian. Proud, extroverted Hesian. Flury's mind went back to his student days (which were not really that long ago), and he remembered his tutorial group. It had only been Hesian and himself that year, as everyone else was too busy making a muddle of the government to train as wizards.

"You say a dragon did this to you?" asked Flury, pressing his magic against the dragon's spell. It wouldn't budge. The only one who would be able to take it off, he sensed, was the dragon that had made the spell.

"It took my body, too. I think that all of wizards have had this happen to them, because at the same time I felt everyone else's bodies being with the dragon, but I couldn't see them. I don't know what to do," Hesian said sadly.

"How is Nisila? Have they taken it?" Flury asked.

"I'm afraid so. It's under the rule of the rebels, and there's nothing the army can do about it. Right bunch of idiots, they are." Even as a fox, Hesian was immediately recognizable. Flury had been away too long. "Dragons swarming around the place. There's a rumor that they have Wizard Derk's daughter with them, Elda or something."

Elda looked taken aback for a second. "But I'm Elda!"

"Are you then? Then it was the other daughter who was being held," Hesian said, tilting his fox head to the side. Flury could tell what that meant. Hesian, though he wasn't very good looking as a griffin, was rather the ladies man. Flury glared at him and shot a small warning spell at him.

"Oh," said Hesian, looking at Flury. "I understand."

"We have to save Calette!" she said furiously. "How _dare_ they!" She breathed deeply, and tried to calm herself down. "What do we do, Flury?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"Another rescue mission, I suppose," was all Flury could come up with. It hadn't hit him until now that he really did have a problem. Something really was happening; it wasn't all rumors as he had convinced himself before. He suddenly felt incredibly weak. "Hesian, I suppose you'll be coming with us, then?" he enquired.

"Naturally," Hesian replied.

"We're traveling with a dragon from Wizard Derk's continent, a white one called Bolero. You won't be alarmed when you see her?" Flury asked.

"Dragons are an all too common sight nowadays," Hesian said, slumping slightly. Flury allowed Hesian to scramble between his pinions, and then took off with Elda not far behind.

"So this runt is what was causing the noise," Bolero asked. "Vain little creature," she muttered. Hesian was too busy clinging to Flury to worry about Bolero's comments, but Flury wished she wouldn't have said that nonetheless.

Elda landed by Flury, shaking with anger. "How _dare_ they!" she kept muttering. Flury wanted, with all his heart, to be the comforting hero, to twine his neck around her's and say everything would be fine. He wasn't brave enough, though, and his heart was beating far too quickly, complimenting the butterflies floating around in his stomach. He made a resolution then and there.

He turned to her. "We will save Calette, Elda. I'll make sure of it."

A/N: I've just had a nice read-over of this chapter, and I can see that I overdid the adverbs…


	7. The Griffin and the Fox

A/N: I was reading Year of the Griffin yet again, and I suddenly realized that I've been spelling Callette wrong… oops… Also, thank you everyone for such positive reviews!

"I _said_," Flury growled at Hesian, who was crouched between Flury's wings, "That it's going to be impossible to overcome the magic of that many people on our own."

"We're all magic users, though," Hesian said thoughtfully, "We can at least sneak in undetected."

"You're forgetting Bolero, Hesian," Flury sighed, "She'll be seen." They were currently soaring over the cultivated land of a human province. Flury knew that the fields should have been bustling with activity, but there was no one to be seen. Eating had become a messy business, as the wildlife of the land was nowhere to be seen. Flury felt squeamish killing animals that had no chance to get away in their fenced enclosures. However, as Bolero pointed out, the cows were probably going to be eaten anyway.

"She can stay behind, then," Hesian said, "Three griffins shouldn't draw too much attention."

"Two griffins," Flury corrected him, "You're a fox, remember?"

"Yes, yes," Hesian said crossly, "A mere technicality. I can still use magic, can't I?"

"That's not the point. You can't fly," said Flury. "Therefore you won't be much use in the air. You're good for stealth, though."

"He's no good for anything!" Elda screeched across the void between them. She swerved over to fly next to them. "All you ever do is complain," she said, "And if you're not complaining, you're being stupid and vain."

"I am rather good looking," Hesian said loudly.

"No you're not! You're horrid!" Elda obviously didn't get on with Hesian.

"I am and all! I'm big and strong and _white_. How many white griffins do you see?"

"You're not a griffin anymore," Flury interjected. Hesian was now standing, digging his claws into Flury's skin to steady himself. "Sit down, or I shall throw you off."

"You wouldn't dare!" Hesian said, with evident worry.

"I'm the stronger one currently, both magically and physically, so my word is the one we'll be going by. Besides, I really am bigger than you." Hesian lapsed into dangerous silence.

"Shut up." Bolero said, diving to join them. "Have you two done anything rather than quarreling?"

"Yes, we have," Hesian began, but was cut off but Flury.

"We were discussing how we could save Callette, to be honest, and we can't see any other way than to sneak in. They'll sense any magic, and we can't take it by force. We need reinforcements, I suppose, but I haven't thought lately to send any warn spells."

"I sent one when we got to the coast," said Bolero.

"Thank you," said Flury, "but I doubt anyone could get here within a week."

"It'll certainly be a while. Lydda's the only one who can fly over the ocean nonstop, but her and her Acker husband are in Ampersand right now, on vacation," said Elda. For once, Hesian was not saying anything.

Flury's deep yearning for Elda had by now been buried deep in his mind, but every time he heard someone talking about marriage or love or anything else to do with it, the feeling came out all the stronger. Hesian, who was linked to Flury as an old friend, felt it.

"Be strong," Hesian said quietly.

"I will," Flury replied. Even though Hesian was vain and oversensitive, he was a good friend, and surprisingly good at handling trouble.

"Querida knew this would happen," Bolero said in Flury's general direction. "I know she did. Her divination may not be among the best, but the rumors in the air have surely told her."

"You mean air elementals?" Hesian asked eagerly. "I studied them for a while. I know I can't talk to them or see them, though. My magic isn't nearly that strong yet."

"Yes, air elementals. They're all around you, you silly creature," Bolero said with irritation.

"I can see them most of the time," Elda remarked. "They tell me things, just like they've always told my friend Olga."

"You mean Olaf Gunnarson's daughter?" Flury asked.

"She's in your class, stupid. You really need to get better at remembering your student's names. You're almost as bad as Wermacht," Elda said. Flury desperately wanted to say that he had been too busy staring at Elda, but he knew this would not go over too well with her.

"Um, yes," he said, subdued. "Sorry."

"Don't act like that!" Elda said furiously. "It's enormously exasperating!" Hesian chuckled quietly at the unintentional alliteration. Elda turned towards the little fox with a vengeance. "Shut up, you." Flury saw that she was getting into her stride. If she continued for long, they would all find themselves strewn about on the ground in little pieces.

"I really am sorry," he said desperately, trying to remove the subordinate, simpering tone from his voice. He really had thought that was proper courting behavior before. Now he saw that that sort of behavior would only make her despise him. He had become much more like his old self within the past months, but Elda had a way of bringing it out in him.

"Elda," Bolero said as softly as possible. "We really should have a short rest now. We've covered at least twenty five miles." The two griffins dove quickly, landing in the middle of a large field. Hesian hopped off Flury's back, then proceeded to sit down and stare at the approaching Bolero. She landed in a gust of wind, making huge furrows in the soil with her great claws. For the first time in while, Flury noticed how dirty they all were. He preened quietly, and Elda followed his example.

After their rest, they were back in the air again. Hesian was sleeping peacefully now, so Flury hadn't much conversation.

As they flew, Flury noticed a river beginning to sharpen into view in the distance. "This is the border between Nisila and the human province," he shouted at Bolero. Hesian awoke with a satisfying amount of commotion.

"Finally," Elda muttered.

"It's only about thirty miles to the city," Flury continued, ignoring Elda. "We should be quite close soon. The city is built on that low mountain up ahead. We'll have to land in the next valley!" They all sped up, and finally came to a halt in the valley.

"You're planning to take a tunnel?" Hesian asked him matter-of-factly. "Good idea."

"Yes I was," Flury replied, searching around for the tunnel marker. "I suppose you'll say you're glad you thought of it?"

"I'm not that bad," Hesian said, his brown eyes glinting.

"Yes you are," said Elda, coming up beside them. She had in her eyes a look that Derk would have called grown up. Flury would have said it was more of a look of mischief. Hesian simply trotted off, and gave them a final comment.

"I'll find the tunnel marker, Flury. I'm obviously not wanted here," Flury was not sure if Hesian meant that Elda was angry with him, or he wanted to leave them alone. There was something Flury was certainly not ready for. The very thought of telling his wishes to Elda was very, very far off to him.

"You know, I really don't like him," Elda said, looking at Flury with one orange eye.

"Why- why not?" Flury asked. She was making him terribly squeamish.

"He's so fake!" she hissed, failing to notice Flury's stuttering. "I don't know how you put up with him. I guess you've had to put with a lot."

"You-you mean my cousins?" he asked, vaguely alarmed. He wanted to run away and hide, but he knew that this was the first step to friendship, then hopefully to love.

"Yes," Elda replied. She had noticed now that she was scaring him. "I say, what's wrong? You're not afraid of me, are you?"

"Yes- I mean, no- I mean- Oh, I'd better just shut up," he said, backing away. She was now looking utterly perplexed.

"I hadn't thought I was something to be afraid of." Flury was shrinking, a thing he hadn't done for a while. "Oh no! Please, you don't have to get small! I'm not trying to offend you."

"You're not offending me," Flury said. He was making an utter fool of himself, and he knew it.

"I hope not. You are my teacher in almost everything," she looked at him through her other eyes. He squeezed his eyes together, hoping feverishly that this was a nightmare.

"I like to teach," he replied.

"Oh come on!" Elda was now exasperated, as well as irritated. "You're twice as big as me! It's not as if I could hurt you anyway. You're a famous wizard."

"Your magic is just as strong, but you don't have enough experience. I mean, I've been through a griffin war and six years of teaching with a tyrannical tutor. He wasn't as narrow-minded as that Corkoran you had for a tutor, but he had his own ideas. Always encouraged us to think for ourselves, have new ideas." He said this all very quickly, and he knew he was being frightfully stupid. "I'm babbling, aren't I?" he asked her.

"A bit," she admitted. "Not as badly as I do." Flury's nightmarish fear was dwindling into a sort of numbness. He had already made a mess of this conversation, therefore it didn't matter anymore what he said.

"I've found it!" shouted Hesian, leaping happily towards them. He stopped as he saw Flury, and sighed deeply. Flury returned to normal size when he saw he was saved. As the two trotted ahead of a confused Elda (Bolero had agreed to stay behind), Hesian tried to calm Flury.

"Well," the fox began after Flury had recounted the conversation as best he could, "That definitely should have given her a hint. Any idiot could tell you that."

"Blade said she was young for her age, but I'm beginning to see that she's not as immature as he thinks," Flury muttered miserably. He felt magic suddenly. "Shut up Hesian!" he hissed. "Can't you feel it?" It was Elda's magic, and he had used that particular spell often enough to tell what it was.

"Ah," said Hesian as Flury used a muffling spell, "Eager to test out her powers, isn't she? I'm glad you were paying attention, because I certainly wasn't."

"Well, at least she's eager to hear," Flury said. He was baffled. He had expected Elda to shun him, because he had displayed the kind of behavior she hated most. Her magic stopped pressing, but Flury could tell Elda was trying to lull him into a false sense of security. He had felt her using a muffling spell to hide her expenditure of magic. He slowed his pace and allowed her to catch up. She was looking rather pleased with herself, but he was so exasperated by her lackluster attempt that he proceeded to lecture her on it. If he had a sore spot, it had to be magic done wrong. Besides, he had Hesian for backup now.

"What kind of muffling spell was _that_? I know I didn't teach you that way. You used far too much magic on the muffling spell itself, therefore cancelling the goal of it, which was to _hide _your use of magic," he began. She was looking slightly crestfallen, but still not very sorry. "I hope that Wermacht fellow hasn't rubbed off on you that much." He turned to look at her with both eyes. "Besides, it's rude to eavesdrop."

"Well, then don't walk ahead of me and have private conversations. I can't be blamed for trying to listen in." Flury saw her point, but was reluctant to explain his reasons of having private conversation. "I have to admit, though, that your tendency to cringe at my every word has abated. You obviously can't make up your mind."

"Think about it!" Hesian all but shrieked. "You honestly can't tell me that you don't get it!" Elda didn't reply, but was evidently thinking deeply.

"_WHY_!" Flury screeched out of the blue. This had to be the stupidest thing Hesian had ever done, to Flury's mind. No one commented on his outburst. How he wished Elda had been brought up by griffins! They were so much more public than humans about their feelings. Flury was trying not to be griffinish, but it was proving very, very difficult. He kept lapsing into the courtship behavior he had been taught. He had no idea, though, that he was really making progress on his behavior. Elda thankfully dropped the subject as they found the opening of the tunnel. A small, old sign proclaimed "To the city of Nisila, capitol of the griffins. Humans prohibited."

"This sign must be very old. We had humans living in the city when I was last here," Flury said quietly. He felt anti-human spells on the entrance, and nasty ones at that.

"That magic feels rather malignant," said Hesian, flitting about excitedly.

"Of course it does! It wasn't set up by griffins! This is dragon magic!" Flury could feel the strange feeling in these spells that Bolero's spells had. He felt further into the spell. The anti-human spell was simply a superficial veneer, covering the extremely powerful trap spell within. There was a key spell, but Flury couldn't fathom it.

He saw Elda and Hesian making for the entrance.

"_NO!_" he shouted. "There are traps in there! You'll be killed in a second!"

"Are you sure?" Hesian asked. "I can't feel anything."

"Hesian," Flury replied, "We both know that you are not as strong a wizard as I am. You don't believe me?"

"Hesian, Flury's right. I don't know what it is, but I feel something. How he knows what it is, I don't know, but he's right," Elda reprimanded Hesian. He looked extremely indignant, as Elda was much younger than him.

"Are you suggesting that you, not much more than a fledgling, that you're stronger than me as well? That's a serious accusation," Hesian growled. Flury could feel a tantrum full of magefire coming on. He slapped a stasis spell on Hesian, and felt Elda do something similar.

"Thanks," he said, picking up Hesian and depositing him in his bag, which had hung unused on his neck for quite a while.

"Am I really stronger than him?" she asked, glaring at the bag.

"I hate to make those kind of assumptions," Flury said carefully, forgetting his nervousness. "Hesian is not one to be trifled with."

"You trifle with him," she said irritably.

"That's because he knows he can't as much as put a little stasis spell on me," he said. He was remembering his last conversation, and he tried very, very hard to stay his normal size. This left him towering over her. He suddenly remembered something he had said to Blade, when Wizard Policant had returned to the University. Elda really was so beautiful that it made him ache. Blade had thought Flury had a chance with Elda, but Flury was hard pressed to find such optimism when faced with her. She rattled her wings, overwhelming Flury's confidence. He shrunk very slightly.

"Er, we're going to have to fly to the city," he said, bracing to take off. He made a grave mistake then and there: he forgot about telling Bolero.

"I suppose so," Elda said with a shrug. She took of in a whoop of golden wings, and Flury followed, catching up easily. They flew low to the ground, and kept very quiet as they approached the mountain. Several very shiny, very straight lines of buildings faced them. At the gates two gigantic dragons were stationed.

"Oh, Callette," Elda said sadly. Flury had almost forgotten about Callette. He could feel waves of surveillance magic hitting them every so often. However, the two seemed not to be doing anything that set off the alarms, so he relaxed. He had muffled Elda, Hesian, and himself strongly before they got too close to the city.

"Have any ideas of how we can infiltrate the city?" he asked Elda hopefully, undoing the stasis spells on Hesian and putting spells of quiet on the little fox. As Flury had predicted, Hesian had leapt out furiously and was trying to scream at them.

"Hesian, shut up," Flury said, clamping his talons round Hesian's snout. "We need to get into the city. Any ideas?" Hesian stopped trying to scream, and Flury undid the spell of quiet.

"You'll have to pretend to be one of them. They sense magic quick as you can say 'Let's not get caught,'" he said, ignoring his previous, undignified state. "They're not too careful with the griffins, so if you bring myself and Elda, say, as tribute or some other barbaric thing, they should let you pass."

"Are you sure?" Flury asked. He didn't want to put his friends in too much danger.

"Quite sure," said Hesian. "Just tell those two dragons you've found Wizard Derk's other daughter and a dangerous wizard," (Elda made a scoffing noise) "And we should be able to get in. If it doesn't work, then they'll simply imprison us."

"Hesian, you're forgetting that you're going to look like my breakfast," Flury said with a sigh. "My dearest ambition is NOT to be turned into a fox, or something equally as repulsive."

"We know that, though," Hesian said. "The dragon that did this to me wasn't a rebel. He didn't have the Mark."

"The Mark?" asked Elda, forgetting that she wasn't speaking to Hesian.

"The Mark, the symbol of their new world order, or whatever. It's some sort of golden collar," Hesian replied.

"Could it be mind control?" Flury asked.

"We looked into that," Hesian said ruefully. "They do indeed wear it of their own free will. I was doing some work for the Griffin Coalition to do with the Mark when the dragon attacked me."

"No better time than the present," Elda suggested. "We'd better get going."

"You'll have to take us in unconscious," said Hesian. He and Elda both braced themselves as Flury made them unconscious.

Flury picked up the warm, fluffy mass of Elda and tried a weight reducing spell. She was as immune to magic as any other griffin. He decided he'd have to walk instead of flying, as she was far too heavy for him to fly with. He draped her over his hackles, and laid Hesian there with her. He walked heavily from the cover of the forest, and the dragons waited for him to arrive. He cast a little-known shield spell over his mind, one Bolero had assured him dragons could not penetrate, and hoped they had not noticed. They hadn't.

"I come bearing Wizard Derk's griffin daughter, as well as the wizard Hesian," he said with as much conviction as he could muster.

He felt the pressing of their divinatory magic, but they evidently found him acceptable.

"You may pass," said one, "But be warned," said the other, "We will not tolerate misbehavior."

Flury marched through the gates of the great griffin capitol, his head held high and his neck arched proudly. He removed the unconsciousness as he left the dragons' magical field, and allowed the two off his back. The streets were deserted, and he felt no surveillance within the city itself, so he assumed it would be safe to let them walk with him. How wrong he was.


	8. A Most Potent Spell

As Flury walked as quietly as possible down the civilized streets of the capitol, he looked around with considerable anxiety. No one was around, nor was anyone looking out the expensive glass windows. The street was wide, to accommodate the presence of the large number of griffins that had once passed over it daily. He was increasingly on edge, as he felt the presence of invisible eyes galore. He had had to shush Hesian and Elda several times, as he could feel echoes bouncing off the deserted streets. He could not muster the courage to use magic, because of the close proximity of at least five dragons, including the green titans guarding the city gates. Further away he could feel a gathering of many, many dragons; enough to send his magical senses reeling every time he felt them.

"Flury, you do know where we're going, right?" Elda asked quietly.

"Yes," Flury replied shortly, feeling one of the dragons coming closer. He ushered Elda under a pavilion where the richer merchants of the city had once set up shop. "Shh… There's a dragon above us." The two crouched under a large table (griffin height) and took care to not send any rogue tendrils of magic from their persons. Hesian peeked out of Flury's bag, taking great care to be quiet.

When they had felt it pass, they all began their careful journey down the road once more. Flury suddenly felt the presence of another griffin. Without pausing, he made his friends unconscious, hoping profusely that they would understand.

The other griffin, a large tan one, rounded the corner, making a great deal of noise with his talons. Flury recognized him immediately as his cousin Terian. He began the lengthy process of dragging Elda by the scruff of her neck down the street, hoping Terian wouldn't get too suspicious.

"I was informed you would come bearing two new prisoners," Terian cried out. Flury looked up, mustering his confidence.

"Yes," replied Flury, "Wizard Hesian and Elda, Wizard Derk's daughter." As Terian approached, Flury noticed an ornate band round Terian's neck. So this was the so-called Mark. How unimaginative, Flury thought scornfully.

"No Mark, Flury?" Terian asked, chuckling. "How very unfortunate." Flury did not reply, choosing to frown instead. He had never gotten on too well with Terian.

"You do realize, of course, that you're under arrest," said Terian, when no reply came. "I felt the presence of three conscious griffins. There are only two here, though. How odd," he continued boredly. "I assume your friend has encountered Senera?"

"Senera?" Flury asked with a sudden interest.

"Odd indeed," chuckled Terian, plucking Hesian from Flury's bag. "Hesian, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Flury, his mind working furiously. What was going on? Senera wasn't allied with these rebels, then? It was all so very confusing!

Flury found himself locked in a cell an hour later, sadly contemplating the magical defenses round it. It was lights out, so there were no guards to be seen. They obviously thought their magical barriers were more efficient than sentient guards. He wondered how he was going to restore Hesian's body as well as rescuing everyone and their brother. Which, he contemplated sourly, was almost exactly what he was doing.

He pressed his magic against the barrier once more, feeling it absorbed instantly. He toyed with the idea of simply giving the barrier more than it could handle, but he was certain this would set of some rather nasty alarms. He felt the iron bars of the prison, and felt no magical protections in the physical parts of the cell. Mustering all of his strength, as well as all his size, he began his escape plans by casting a quiet spell upon himself, as well as the iron bars. The makers of the cell had obviously assumed that iron would be barrier enough for a wizard, therefore they had only covered five of the cell's six faces with a magical barrier, choosing not to expend energy on the iron face.

He slammed into the bars, slanting upward as he hit them. The hinges were strained considerably, but did not break. He backed up and slammed into them again, using a speed spell for extra force. Two hinges snapped, which created a large enough gap for a considerably shrunken Flury to pass through.

He emerged into a moonlit and rather eerie hall of cells. He returned the hinges to their sockets by levitation, and then tiptoed carefully down the row, peering into each cell as he passed. Predictably, his neighboring cells were vacant, as were many others. He was searching for any familiar faces, hoping he could at least locate Callette while he was there.

He found someone, but it wasn't exactly Callette, though quite close.

"Cazak!" whispered Flury through the bars, but Cazak didn't hear him. "Oh, how stupid," Flury muttered to no one in general. He lifted the quiet spell, then called for Cazak once more. The brown, white, and black lump moved, spreading his barred wings a little. "Cazak!" Flury repeated.

"Whassamatter?" Cazak asked, still in a stupor. He arose grumpily, then cheered up considerably when he saw who it was that had awoken him. "Flury!"

"Yes, yes," Flury said frantically, "Keep it down."

"I will," replied Cazak looking at Flury with very bright eyes. "You can't imagine how happy I am to see you!"

"This isn't the time," said Flury, shifting restlessly. He examined the hinges of Cazak's cell, which he saw were very simple for his griffin claws to take off. He twisted the bolts out and carefully laid the bars on the ground. After Cazak had made his exit, Flury put the bars and everything into the cell, made them invisible, then slapped a thin illusion of bars where they ought to have been. Flury found himself getting angrier by the moment at the wizards who had set this prison up. It only absorbed offensive magic, which was almost useless when it came to containing wizards. It was altogether a shoddy job. However, since the current state was to his advantage, it mollified him considerably.

"Let's find Callette and Don," Cazak said, carefully walking further down the row. Flury quickly returned the spell of quiet to both of them.

The next griffin found was Don, a shiny, sleepy lump of gold. Flury lifted his quiet spell once more, expertly, and called to Don. Don's eye came open immediately.

"Is that you Cazak? And Flury?" Flury and Cazak together removed the doors together, taking a very small amount of time, then Flury set up another illusion. Callette was next to him ("Cazak!" she screamed) and Hesian was in a tiny cage on a randomly placed bench.

"Now all we need is Elda," Flury said tiredly, putting his second-to-last illusion upon Hesian's cage.

"Better make us invisible," commented a voice from Flury's bag. Flury put invisibility and quiet back on, and they all began to gallop down the row. Of course, it was nobody's fault that Elda had had much the same idea. The four griffins and one bagged fox all toppled over Elda. Flury removed his spells at once when he felt Elda's magic near his own. Elda removed hers as well.

"Get off!" she mumbled from under a great deal of fur and feathers and weight. Don helped Callette up, who in turn helped Cazak up, who in turn helped Flury up, who in turn pulled Elda off the ground.

"Ouch," she said, wincing. "You guys are _heavy_."

"Shh…" Flury hissed. He felt dragon magic close by, and was not planning to be caught by it. He had no wish to end up like Hesian. It occurred to him there that Hesian hadn't really seemed too upset after his initial shock. How odd…

Flury's thought processes were interrupted by Elda, who felt the dragon magic as well.

"Flury," she squealed in a most un-Elda-ish way. She felt how strong this magic was, then. "Whatever that presence is, it doesn't feel too friendly." She was trying to be brave, but Flury was scared, too.

"We'll be fine," he said as firmly as possible.

"I simply hope your invisible friends think the same," said Cazak worriedly.

Then came the attack. Flury had no idea where it came from, but he saw the entire prison wall being ripped off. Out of instinct, everyone immediately rose into the air. As Flury sped away he put spells of invisibility on the others, screaming frantically at them.

"FLY _AWAY_!" he screeched, wheeling round to make sure they did. Then the magic came, hitting him like a hammer. He felt the presence of at least five dragons and ten griffins contributing to it. It was asphyxiating him at an alarming rate; he gasped wildly for breath, at the same time fighting his enemies with all the magic within him. He plummeted to the ground, light-headed and hopeless. The pressure crushed him, and he felt the snapping of several bones. Please not my flight feathers! he thought as his last reserves of oxygen left him. ELDA!

"NO!" he roared, throwing the magic off him as if it were nothing. Elda had fallen next to him, not breathing at all. His right hind leg would not support him, but he didn't have attention to spare. He screeched and cawed out words, thunderclaps accompanying each one. His left wing would not work, and his neck had been strained almost to the breaking point.

Every surrounding enemy fell to the ground, turned to stone, cracking hopelessly. Flury fell to the ground, breathing raggedly; he threw his right wing over Elda, then he blacked out entirely.

"Flury?" he heard a voice call. He tried to rise, but his leg gave way, and he collapsed on the ground painfully. "Flury!" He felt a strong, warm healing spell sprucing him up considerably. He opened his eyes to see who had done it, but he recoiled painfully in shock.

"Bolero!"

"Why did you not tell me your plans? It wasn't as it I could fly after you!" She was evidently very angry, but very worried, too.

"I'm sorry, Bolero," he replied, trying out his hind leg. "I-I had other things on my mind."

"Oh, do tell," she said haughtily. "I'll get it in two guesses!"

"No, don't!" he cried out. Still not ready, his conscience said.

"Still not ready?" she roared, smoke spewing from her jaws. "You're being a fool!"

"Those are my wishes," he muttered sadly.

"I'm beginning to wonder if you really mean what you say!"

"I do! I'm just not- just not brave enough," he felt on the verge of tears. He breathed deeply and collapsed once more.

"Oh yes, a wizard who used one of the most powerful spells ever created only a day ago isn't brave enough! Flury, be brave!"

"I'm not!" he cried. It was not that simple. He knew he could not bear it if Elda did not reciprocate his feelings. They were on a mission together, and everything would become awkward, strange.

"You'll lose her, Flury!" Bolero pointed an ivory claw at the comatose Elda. Then, as if reading Flury's mind (which, Flury reminded himself, she probably was) she calmed. "Enough on the subject. We will speak of it later."

"Thank you," he replied, relaxing once more. "Where are the others?"

"Sleeping. I had to put them in healing comas. They were much worse off than you," she said, sinking to the ground next to Flury. "How did you find the strength for such a spell?"

"It was when I saw Elda," he said quietly, remembering the exact feeling of power. "The dragons and the wizards were trying to suffocate me. When I saw Elda fall, I got really angry."

"But anger was not the main path your magic took, was it?" asked Bolero.

"No," said Flury in wonder, "It was justice and," he wriggled slightly, "It was love."

"That is why I believe you love her, Flury."

"I don't think I really knew until now. I'll tell her soon," he promised. "I hadn't realized it was that strong."

"It is that strong. Or, at least, it has become that strong. Wizard Flurian, you are getting stronger, and you are growing up."


	9. New Arrivals

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is so heavily dialogued, but I've been, erm, gone for a while. This is one of those chapters that drag in the writing process.

* * *

Bolero had consented to carry all four comatose griffins, and very quickly it had to be done, too. The morning of Flury and Bolero's heated conversation had been the one the other dragons had decided to act. The dragons had stopped in the city, possibly to examine their allies' ruins.

The only plausible direction Flury and Bolero had been able to come up with was east; there at least there was a possibility of finding help.

"Oh," Flury groaned, his wings heavily under strain, "I hope we find _someone_." Flury's magic had not recovered nearly enough for him to translocate, and Bolero was not wasting her own after the latest ordeal.

"They had better be there by now," Bolero said heavily. She was showing more signs of fatigue than ever before. "I can't keep this up much longer." Dragons were not ones to admit defeat.

The coast came into view, a line of white sand bordered by cerulean sea. Normally, Flury would have found the sight breathtaking, but the only condition the adjective 'breathtaking' fell under currently was the presence of an army of his allies. Naturally, there was no such thing.

"We'll fly along south," Bolero said, wheeling around and facing towards the distant outline of a tower. They continued south, and Flury probed the surrounding area with his magical senses mercilessly, hoping for some kind of magical contact. They landed hopelessly a day later; Flury was teetering on the verge of exhaustion. Bolero was near that verge as well. She carefully laid the griffins on the ground.

"Awake, my friends," she said raggedly, waving her claws over the group.

"What happened?" shouted Don, leaping up, ready for a fight.

"Nothing happened," Flury explained, lying on the ground next to them.

"My _head_," said Elda, rubbing her eyes.

"My_ wings_," Cazak said in reply.

"My _everything_," Callette grunted.

"Oh, be quiet," Bolero said irritably. "You've been in healing comas for three days. You're much better off than Flurian and myself."

"Don!" Elda said, suddenly remembering something, "Dad told me you got married!"

"No, Elda," Don said, her large golden double, "I'm engaged, though."

"To who?" Elda asked curiously. She was evidently done feeling left out now that she was actually on the other continent. They were all in dapper shape after their three days rest. Flury was almost the exact opposite. He hadn't the energy to spare to listen to their asinine conversation. If it had been a conversation about Elda being engaged, well, he would have listened to that. Preferably if it was he Elda was engaged to.

"Larasa Acker," said Don proudly. Flury was not extremely familiar with the Ackers, but he assumed Don knew them quite well.

"Fighting family," Cazak commented.

"Quite high up," said a voice from Flury's bag. And here he had almost forgotten Hesian! Flury opened the flap and Hesian toppled out, looking rather warm and sleepy. "I know her," he said to Don.

"Hesian, I presume?" Don asked.

"In the flesh," ("Not exactly," Elda muttered under her breath,) said Hesian, stretching luxuriously. "Nice girl."

"She _is _nice," said Don, his eyes enigmatically staring at something that was not there.

"Aren't you just peachy?" Elda asked irritably. This was the last part of the conversation Flury heard, as he had fallen asleep. How long he slept, he had no idea, but he awoke to an argument between the four others about something. Then he noticed that there were more than four griffins around him.

"Listen Elda," said a black griffin, "We came as quickly as we could. Things have gotten a lot worse since you lot left."

"How so?" Flury asked groggily, sitting up with difficulty.

"I'm glad you've decided to join us," snapped Kit. Flury would have been indignant, but he was simply too tired to really care.

"Those idiots at the University have barricaded themselves in, just like the idiots at that outpost on the beach. Won't come out for anything, they're so scared."

"Wait, who else is here?" Flury said suddenly. Was this the army they had been waiting for?

"Just me, Blade, Dad, Lydda, and a few human wizards, including Querida. The dragons from our continent are busy fighting the rebels over there, and all the wizards are either barricaded in the University or out of reach. Luther's kingdom has been overthrown, as well as the dwarven clans," Kit recounted grimly.

"How cheerful," Hesian remarked. "What do we do about it?"

"There's not much _you_ can do about it," Elda said scathingly. "You're a second-rate magic user."

"Now wait just a minute—" Hesian began heatedly, but was interrupted by Flury.

"He's not second-rate," said Flury, weariness penetrating his voice. "He simply does things differently from most of us."

"That's what makes magic so unpredictable," came Derk's voice, absent of its usual cheerfulness. He walked into the light cast by the fire, and Flury saw himself mirrored in Derk's appearance. Derk had a look similar to that of when he had been Dark Lord; however, it was magnified tenfold. He was worn ragged, his clothes sagged on his usually plump frame, and he had not shaved for weeks by the look of his newly acquired beard. He collapsed onto the ground and leaned against the huge form of Kit.

"Derkholm is completely overrun, as is the land surrounding it. Our house is gone," Lydda said tearfully, following her father into the light of the fire.

"Houses can be rebuilt," Derk said dryly. No one was really in the mood to comment upon this statement. "I don't know what has become of the Friendly Cows or the flying horses or anything else."

"Yes, we've lost all the animals and all our crops. But enough about us, tell us about you," Kit said. "I want to know what in the world happened after you left." So Elda gave the newcomers a fairly accurate account of all that had happened, and then some. Hesian occasionally chimed in with a "yes," but Flury and Bolero remained silent.

"Interesting," came yet another voice from the darkness outside their circle. A short, greenish old woman stepped imperiously into view. "I still want to know what happened after everyone was knocked out."

"Oh, that was me," said Flury quietly. "I was so angry when the others were attacked that I cast one of the strongest spells I've ever done. It turned the dragons to stone, but then I passed out."

"Stone? I did that to your cousins when they attacked my cats," said Querida grimly. Flury remained quiet. He felt very embarrassed, as everyone was staring intently at him.

"Where's Blade and the other wizards?" asked Elda, out of the awkward silence.

"They're trying to communicate with the University, but I don't think it's going to get through. Dragons are blocking magic from entering the University," said Querida, disdaining to sit on the ground. She conjured a small, squishy armchair covered with doilies.

"So, what are we planning to do?" asked Derk, suddenly on task.

"What can we do?" asked Kit grumpily. "Deucalion and Policant told us to find the travelers, nothing more."

"Yes, but we need to fix things. Any suggestions?" said Querida scathingly.

"I have one," said Hesian, his tail twitching obscurely about. "We could find the counteractive to those medallions their armies are wearing."

"Counteractive?" asked Flury, bemused.

"Obviously they wear them for protection. Such a cliché notion, wearing medallions to identify oneself, they must be protective. Besides, I sensed a subtle spell in them, as spell-sensing is my specialty," Hesian said. He was no different than he had been in Flury's school days; vain, proud, and haughty. Hesian was of quick mind and stout heart, though, and these traits overwhelmed his vainness.

"I see… What if we were to get hold of one of these medallions? I call this a lead," Querida said, mostly to herself.

"Pray tell me how we would be able to steal one? It's not as if we can visit the city again; their guards will be doubled and tripled by now," Cazak said quickly.

"We can locate one of their scouts with magic, and fight him down. It can't be that difficult for all of us to overwhelm one griffin," interjected Derk.

"Hesian, what do you think these medallions are protecting them from?" asked Flury, suddenly bothered by this question.

"I don't know. It can't be terrible strong, or they wouldn't be so mass-manufactured. I think it may be to keep their mind and spirit within their bodies. I don't see why they would need protection from their own antics, though, but there you have it," replied Hesian knowledgably. He flitted about in excitement at being taken so seriously.

"I'll talk with Blade and the others about it," said Derk, standing up abruptly. "If all goes well, we can begin our excursion tomorrow."

"I agree," said Flury. "I think, sooner or later, we're going to have a full scale war on our hands. Speed is of the essence."


	10. The Desert Calls

"This is so foolish!" Blade exclaimed. "We have no reason to risk ourselves on this creature's whimsical magic senses!"

"Blade, I trust Hesian," said Flury, a little annoyed. "His skills of sensing are among the best."

"Yes, but can we really do anything about it?" Cazak asked gloomily. His spirits were rather down

They were sitting round a charred pile of wood, deep in discussion once again. Blade was not supportive of the idea of stealing a simple golden object. He called it absurd, but a whole night of arguing had not gotten them anywhere. Each of them was ready to collapse from exhaustion.

Of all wizards that had had to come with Blade, Corkoran was one of them. The others were Finn, a middle-aged woman called Idrea, and the Wizard Myrna, who had recently given birth to her child. She was not very happy to have left her precious child, and was making it known with her imperious and sulky presence.

Flury, yet again, felt something very suddenly. Something was watching him, but even his magical senses couldn't pick anything up; it was intuition alone. His crest rose, and he stood up.

"Flury, what's wrong?" asked Blade, noticing Flury's sudden movement.

"Something's watching us," Flury said, quietly.

"What?" said Hesian, "I'm not picking anything up."

"I feel it as well," said Derk.

"What an imposing presence," said Querida, not in the least impressed.

_You fools! You do not know what danger lies ahead, behind, above you! Flee while you have the chance! Go to the desert; you will find something to help you there._ The attention left them, and Bolero scooped the humans haphazardly into her claws. This did not make any of them very happy.

"Let's go!" she snarled, "I know what pursues us! Translocate together!" She laid her tail on the ground. "Anyone who cannot translocate, hold on to me! We need great power! I will direct us!" Hesian leapt onto Flury's shoulder blades, digging his claws in to get a better purchase. In a massive group effort from the wizards, who were all jumbled in Bolero's massive grip, they left the spot with a bizarre _splurrrch_! Bolero had guided them well; the group landed in a desert cave.

"That was close," Bolero said. Her dull, pearly scales shone eerily in the half-light of the cave. "We should rest now. Our course has been decided." No one was tempted to disagree; they were all in favor of resting.

"Is this desert in the west?" asked Blade to Flury.

"The southwest, actually," Flury replied. "To be honest with you, this is the very edge of the desert. This is the only place there are mountains." Blade nodded and, being one of the few wizards that had had the wits to grab his or her things, carried his things to a distant corner and laid his head upon his clothing pack.

"Oh dear," sighed Elda. "Oh dear," she repeated. Flury could not stop looking at her in the gloom. "I feel ever so filthy. What I'd give for a bath," she said, mostly in Flury's direction. He was probably the only one who would listen, but he felt rather touched nonetheless.

"It's not so bad," he said, trying to look happy in his griffin fashion. He managed more of a pained grimace, his dull feathers raining bits of dried mud every time he moved. She moved her head in a way that suggested the cocking of one eyebrow, had she had any eyebrows. Flury didn't understand this gesture, but he assumed that it was one of those behaviors picked up from living with humans for too long.

"You can't possibly be in better shape than I am," she said indignantly.

"You're right," he admitted. He suddenly felt indignant himself. "I'm completely exhausted. I've been translocating you and Hesian and everyone else all around the country for at least a week now." He was getting a little irritable, but it felt good to vent some of his feelings. "Bolero is the only one who can understand how I feel right now. Perhaps Derk can."

"Well," she said, glaring, "I'm so very sorry." She turned her hindquarters toward Flury and moved to further reaches of the cave.

"That was smooth," said a muffled voice from Flury's bag. He reached a talon in the bag and drew out an extremely ruffled looking Hesian.

"How did you get in there?" asked Flury.

"Sneaking," shrugged Hesian, jumping to the floor and shaking himself. "You'd better apologize to her."

"Why should I?" Flury hissed. He was angry now. Why did everyone continually second guess him and keep him constantly working? "She's a silly little girl, and I can't be bothered with it." Naturally, this was the exact opposite of what poor Flury felt. It was a crushing mental blow to realize Elda was against him now, for whatever petty reason it may have been. He lay in a unprepossessing hump of filthy griffin, breathing raggedly. Hesian sat and stared at him for several minutes before padding silently to Elda.

"Wake up," he said silently in where he thought her ear lay.

"What?" she snapped, an orange eye glaring at Hesian.

"I need to speed Flury along," said Hesian urgently. "He won't tell you what he truly thinks of you."

"Oh, so now Flury hates me," she murmured. "I didn't mean to make him so angry."

"He's not angry at you in particular," said Hesian, "He's just tired. Can't you tell what he thinks of you?"

"I have no idea," she said. "He still seems a little scared of me, to tell you the truth."

"You can't possibly tell me you don't recognize his behavior," said Hesian with impatience. "It's classic courting behavior."

"Courting?" she whispered with curiosity. "What?"

"He loves you," Hesian said so quietly it was almost lost. "More than anything, I think."

"What?" she asked again. She looked genuinely shocked. "Did he tell you this?"

"Yes," said Hesian. "So remember that when you're speaking. If I were you, I'd decide what you thought of him." The red fox turned and returned to Flury's side, far on the other side of the cave.

"What?" she asked herself yet again. "I think I know what I think. Or do I?" She fell asleep and dreamt fitfully for the rest of her slumber. Flury's breath quickened. He had heard the entire exchange, pretending to sleep while Hesian spoke with Elda.

He could not go any longer without sleep; he really did fall into a deep, restoring sleep as he thought of Hesian's actions.

As he awoke the next morning, he noticed that Elda was standing in the entrance of the cave, watching the desert sun stream in. He could not possibly face her. He distracted himself by looking around the cave, which was at least the size of a large cathedral when lit by the sun.

"Good morning, Flurian," said Bolero, who had compacted herself to fit into the space and still leave extra room for the others. _I heard what Hesian told young Elda. He did not think of how it might affect you. Please, forget it until Elda has made her decision._

"I will," Flury assured Bolero. He meant nothing of the sort; how could he face Elda now? What would he do?

"Do not lie," she said. "Try."

"I'll try."

"So, where is it we're going?" asked Querida into the gloom.

"I've no clue," said Blade sadly, standing and brushing his clothes off. Derk simply sat in his own niche, looking thoughtful and pained simultaneously.

"I'm not really in the mood for wandering aimlessly in the desert," said Kit grumpily. He looked vicious with bad temper.

"Neither am I," said Finn, who was attempting to calm Corkoran and Myrna down without much success.

"I'm not going _anywhere_!" shouted Myrna in no particular direction. "I have no reason to be here!" Finn shuddered at the resonation the screaming created. He rather sharply cast a spell of calm and tranquility upon Myrna, who fell back, a glazed look of content replacing the hysterical one. Corkoran was white with apprehension; his eyes were wide with malcontent and fear. His personality had never really returned after his disastrous trip to Mars, and he was really in no mental condition to be in their party. Finn. Elda, and Querida all knew this quite well, but leaving Corkoran alone was probably not a very safe thing to do. Querida had had no choice but to drag him along.

"What a silly girl," said Querida with slight disgust on her face. "Flury, do you have absolutely any idea as to where we might need to go?"

"Not really," Flury began apologetically, but shut his beak when Elda's clear orange gaze turned to him.

"Yes?" hissed Querida impatiently.

"I- That is to say- I…" He could not seem to get the words out.

"What Flury means is that we should go to Halgen, the only civilized griffin establishment in the desert," said Hesian, his tiny voice echoing in the cave.

"It's as good an idea as any," agreed Cazak. "Callette?" he asked, turning to the ragged brown griffin.

"Whatever you say," Callette said in an unusually resigned tone.

"Kit and I agree," said Blade.

"Then I suppose that's settled," said Derk, lifting his head up to gaze at Bolero. "But how do we know if that city will not be overtaken."

"I am quite sure it will be safe," said Flury. Halgen was too small for anyone to actually be concerned about it. He was very, very sure of this. He felt a sharp pang of irritation as Hesian climbed into the very torn bag that _still_ hung round Flury's thick neck. His tail stuck out garishly from a hole that had developed from the bag's travels.

"We need to go northeast," said Flury, walking past Elda without looking at her. "Are any of you in condition for translocation? I didn't think so," he said in response to the shaking of several heads, crowned with hair or feathered.

"We can carry the humans for a while," said Callette. "But they're too heavy to be riding on most of us. Kit maybe."

"Nobody will be riding me," snarled Kit, still in a bad temper.

"Oh yes they will," said Derk, standing and facing his son. "You'll carry someone if they need carried. I don't care how full of yourself you are." Kit filled his lungs with air for a spirited vocal assault, but the look on Derk's face silenced him.

"Fine," he muttered, as if he were five years old again.

"You too, Elda and Callette," he said sternly.

"Yes, Dad," the two female griffins said in chorus. This was not a time to argue.

"I don't know about griffins, but I can carry a few humans if they don't object," chimed in Bolero.

"Thank you, Bolero," said Flury graciously. He was taking charge now; nothing would be done if he didn't. "Perhaps you could take Myrna, Corkoran, and Finn?"

"Of course," she said politely, winking at Flury before scooping Myrna, Corkoran, and Finn in a very undignified scramble into her ivory claws. Myrna would have objected, but Finn continued to maintain his spell powerfully.

"I'll take Dad, I suppose," grumbled Kit.

"Callette?" asked Blade raggedly, leaning against his sister. She nodded shortly, and Cazak grinned at her encouragingly.

"I'll take you, Querida," said Flury as Elda opened her beak to accept Querida. "It's fine; I'm bigger than you," said Flury to Elda's protests. She snorted and, before she walked away, gave him a glance that could have petrified him. It almost did.

Flury expanded himself into his normal shape, which nearly matched Kit's formidable bulk, and tried, as gently as possible, to wrap his talons around the skinny Querida. He hoped he had the strength for this.

"We'll have to go down for rests at least once an hour," he said as the other griffins picked up their cargo. "If any of us gets too tired we'll rotate humans and take someone heavier or lighter. Agreed?"

"Yes," said Kit and Callette, who were really the only ones this applied to.

"And… Fly!" he screeched, feeling the leaden weight of Querida weigh him down. But soon it passed and he was gliding closer to the blue mass of the sky. Kit was laboring nearby with Derk, while Callette, who was relatively strong, was easily carrying her skinny brother. Bolero flew by magic, so it wasn't affecting her at all.

After about two hours, at their second rest, Flury was feeling his recent hardships weighing on his wings. They were leaden and he was panting in agony with every single flap.

"You'd better let me carry her," said Elda when she landed next to Flury, who was lying on the ground in a tired heap. His breaths were becoming more labored and loud, his flanks rose up and down rapidly and sharply as he rolled onto his side.

"Really, Flury," said Derk as Flury tried to get up. "You've hardly the strength to get up, let alone lug Querida around."

"I won't let the beast carry me," grunted Querida, shaking her head at his condition. "I don't think he should be flying for the next few days."

"I can't make someone carry me," he gasped. "I can still fly. Just give me another hour."

"Flurian, I don't think even another hour will cure you. You've been going too hard for too long. You need to rest," Bolero said. Flury really didn't argue; his body was more exhausted than he had ever even imagined it could have been. "I can take you as well. My magic will suffice to carry you."

"Thank you," he sputtered. He felt tendrils of magic lifting him from the ground, weaving around him in a comfortable way, and then finally attaching themselves around Bolero's neck. There he hung, suspended in the magic and not in Bolero's way.

"Let's go," she said. "We need to move, now."


	11. No Nobler Griffin

"Senera?" asked Harmad shakily, fearing his superior's reaction. He had just returned from a patrol flight, and had some rather nasty news.

"What news, Harmad?" asked Senera peaceably. He was lounging in a crag of rock, watching the clouds roll by. His red and ivory scales shone brightly in the daylight.

"There's a strange cloud headed for us," replied Harmad lamely.

"So?" replied Senera. He yawned widely, taking in the fresh desert air. "There are many strange clouds in this world. You cat-birds are very strange creatures."

"Well, I'm afraid it's a quite different type of strange," Harmad croaked. "Granire was leading the patrol, and he decided he'd fly into it to investigate. Something within—he was writhing in midair and—he fell to the ground. He was strangled to death, as far as I can tell. The same happened to the rest of our patrol, but I managed to get away." He was trembling with terror, as the poor griffin had never seen suck wanton destruction and death. Several who had died had been good friends of his. It hurt him to know that they would never live to be seen again.

"I want to see this for myself," said Senera, lazily rising. "Muster the dragons; we're moving out! I want that golden griffin back," he snarled. "If that Flury thinks he can outsmart me so easily, he has another thing coming." The mud brown griffin had startled Senera's usually cocky attitude into a cautious one. Senera's spies had seen Elda leave the continent for the country of the griffins, and he had been forced to move his entire army across the ocean, into the southwestern desert of the griffin's continent. The task had been momentous. Senera was not about to forgive Flury for it.

Senera extended his powerful wings and flew to the valley below, where about ten dragons were idling, surrounded by many griffins. The ground was littered with the remains of the animals they had been eating for the last week.

He saw enough of the general attitude of his remaining troops to sensibly fly higher. A swirling mass of dark energy was speeding through the sands, killing everything in its path. Senera's eyes widened, and he plummeted a few feet before regaining his composure.

"It's coming!" he roared. "Move out!" But it was far too late for Senera or his underlings. All that was left of them was a pile of carcasses, their unseeing eyes open and wide with fear.

None had survived; save for Harmad. He had passed through it unharmed, but he hadn't a clue why. He felt the brush of something familiar on his face, and then the cloud had swirled out of existence. His neck, which had usually been adorned with Senera's Crest, was devoid of it. He remembered taking it off to preen, but what did that have do with it?

"I knew Senera was mad," he said, shaking his head. He flew off into the distance, heading for home.

"Is that supposed to be a city?" shouted Querida, suspended from Elda's talons.

"I'm afraid so," said Cazak, gliding nearby.

"We must rest for a few days," gasped Flury, who was flying once more. They all curved their wings in a downward angle, the griffins spiraling and Bolero dropping like a stone. The huge dragon landed heavily about a hundred yards from the first house, while all the griffins an their cargo landed in the center square of city itself.

"Water!" shouted Blade, forgetting himself completely and diving into the white and gray flecked marble fountain that occupied the center of the market square. The fountain was in the shape of a great griffin with wings that looked more like fire than wings. The others were more subdued than Blade, though they all immersed themselves in the water as well. It didn't matter to anyone that the griffins and people of the town were staring quizzically at them. Some children that were playing near a market stall that sold fruit were laughing and pointing with glee.

Flury didn't feel like making a fool of himself, though. He was too tired to run, and had no wish to get wet.

"Flurian Atreck, you have some explaining to do," came a voice from behind him. He knew that voice.

"Camilan," said Flury nervously, not looking at the gigantic male griffin he knew was towering behind him.

"I don't know why you're here, but I assume you need somewhere to stay," he continued, not heeding Flury's obvious inability to speak. "I can get your old room ready if you'd like."

"What about my friends?" asked Flury, still not looking.

"You mean the idiots in the fountain?" asked Camilan.

"Erm, yes," he said rather shakily.

"Well, I suppose Hesian's room would do for the women," he said unenthusiastically.

"I don't WANT all of them in my room!" said Hesian hotly, leaping from his repository in a flurry of filthy fox.

"That's a nice spell you're under, Hesian," commented Camilan. Flury turned to face him, as Hesian's presence gave him a little more courage.

"Can you break it?" asked Hesian excitedly. Camilan frowned.

"You mean you can't?" he asked.

"It's completely beyond my ability," admitted the little fox.

"I don't understand," he said. "It's only one layer, and not a very strong one at that. I'd like to know the idiot who cast it."

"It doesn't matter who cast it," said Hesian ferociously. "I can't break, and neither can Flury." He shook his head in disapproval.

"I'm not going to remove it for you, if you can't see it yourself," said Camilan. "Think, Hesian, think."

"I did think," he said.

"Obviously not enough."

Flury had mixed feelings about returning to his home. It meant he would have to face more time with Camilan, as well as any of his other peers still in training. Most of his old friends (and enemies) were probably still there, because most of them had begun at least two years after Flury and Hesian, when Camilan had decided to increase the number of students he took. He had lived in Camilan's reserve for almost five years, from the time he was ten to his sixteenth birthday. For three years after he had worked for the government, ultimately getting the assignment to follow his renegade cousins to Derk's continent.

He looked round his old room with a mixture of aversion and longing. This room was the place he had gotten into a fight with Ieras, his first true enemy. He had no doubt that Ieras was still living in the desert city, if he was not still in Camilan's dormitories. It was also the place where he had scryed without aid of the elements for the first time, as well as the location of several late night talks with Hesian and his other friends.

He looked wanly at a tiny red splotch of blood adorning the worn tapestry of the east wall. It depicted a huge golden griffin carrying a limp, but warlike human in its talons. The tapestry was so old that Flury could not see the face of the human or the griffin's feathers in any clear detail, nor the clothing the human wore. The blood was a remnant of Flury's fight with Ieras.

His room was big enough to hold all the males in the party, and had room to spare. Camilan had furnished the room with scarlet cushions that lay everywhere, ready to be piled into beds. Some rough blankets for the humans lay neatly folded to the left of the door.

"It's good to be back," said Hesian, wandering around excitedly. You know, I can still smell everyone that we went to school with."

"So can I," said Flury softly. His mind had returned to Elda, and his stomach was suddenly filled with butterflies. He went to the permanent pile of orange cushions that he had once slept on, and dropped immediately. He was asleep within minutes, ignoring the others as they went to and fro, discussing their plans.

When he awoke, it was the deep of the night. The moon shone through the giant glass window on the wall opposite the door, and he felt it calling him to bask in the light.

Like a sleepwalker, he staggered outside, making as little noise as possible.

"_When the moon made its call, the griffins they did answer_," came Bolero's voice softly in his mind.

"_Where is that from? It sounds familiar_," Flury answered.

"It comes from the Book of Astronomy," said Elda's voice beside him. "She's talking to me as well."

"The Book of Astronomy?" asked Flury. "That line sounds more poetic than scientific."

"It is a poem," she replied. "It's a collection of poetry about griffins and their connection to the sky."

"I'd like to read it someday. I'm sure I've heard someone quote it to me before," Flury said quietly.

"I'm sure you have."

"Why are we out here?"

"Bolero thinks it's time I made a decision. She says you know what Hesian told me. Is this true?"

"I heard him. It's difficult to forget."

"Then it's true?"

"It's true. I love you." Flury gave a strained sort of chuckle and fell over in a dead faint.

"Flury!" Elda said furiously as he crashed to the ground. "_He really overreacts sometimes_," she hissed to Bolero. "You didn't let me tell you my decision, idiot."

"_I suppose you can't help but love someone who would faint over you,_" Bolero remarked.

"That's true," said Elda. "I've never fainted over anyone before, myself. Sometimes I wish I was half the wizard he is, but being him would be so difficult. He's ever so twitchy and nervous."

"_And you're stuck with him_," the dragon chuckled. She was actually a mile away, in a gully of sand. "Poor Flurian!" she laughed.

Elda sighed and settled next to Flury, waiting patiently for his return to consciousness. It was a good thing that they had been talking in a grove of palms out of the way of everyone else, or Flury's awakening would have been a lot more embarrassing than it already was.

"What happened," he whispered, shaking his head as he tried to get his bearings. What had he been doing las—oh, no! Did Elda run away in disgust? He turned his head to his other side—and there was Elda, staring at him pensively. Morning had come while he was unconscious.

"Is there a reason you had to faint?" she asked impatiently. "I was _going_ to tell you that I had decided that-" she paused to sigh in exasperation, "that I can't help but love you, too." This being said, she looked at him for a reply.

"How nice," he said, getting fainter and dizzier than he already was. He lay his head down in the opposite direction, so he wouldn't have to face her piercing orange gaze.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" she asked.

"More than anything," he said, his stomach fluttering and his heart racing too quickly for comfort. If griffins ever felt nausea, he was feeling it. He might have fainted again, had it not been for the deafening roar of triumph in his head. He was shaking with feverish happiness.

"Flury?" she asked, more kindly this time. He leapt up, screeching in his huge eagle voice, wheeling around in the air. "Yes," Elda whispered, "he's definitely overreacting." She took off too, and found herself flying a wholly different pattern, wheeling round and round in the air as Flury flew opposite her. She found herself calling and screeching with happiness as well, totally out of control of her own instincts.

After a few minutes of this frivolity, they both landed together, nodding at each other in ascent.

"So, when's the wedding?" cawed Cazak as he loped to them. "You two are so sappy."

"Goodness, Flury, how long were you planning on waiting?" asked Blade, following soon after. It appeared that only those two had actually been awake.

"It's a good thing I did wait," said Flury to Blade.

"You knew?" Elda said demandingly, and they were both crowding Blade in feathery griffin pinions.

"Calm down!" Blade laughed, falling backwards into the sand as they pressed far too much on his balance.

"How can I?" screeched Flury, wild and ecstatic.

"Oh Flury, you'll get over it," said Cazak, shaking his head. He hadn't been nearly as excited when Callette had finally given in to his advances. Elda, not being the overly sentimental type, was a great deal calmer, though she seemed much happier than she had been. However, the specter of their enemies was still hanging over all of them, as evidenced by the unnatural storm brewing in the distance. Storms did not brew in the middle of the desert, let alone in the dry season.

Flury, losing his adrenaline rush, felt his weariness return.

"We need a few more days to rest," he said, slumping on aching legs and resting sore wings. "That mating flight took everything I got from a night of sleep. I'm in no condition to fight."

"How long will it take that storm to get here?" asked Cazak.

"My magic says about fours days, at that speed," replied Blade, who was staring intensely into the distance. A shining little light came hurtling through the air, and Blade caught it even as he sat in the sand. He closed his eyes and held the light cupped in his palms.

"It's not natural," he said, glaring. "But it's not quick, either." Kit prowled into their midst, looking at Flury intently.

"We need to build up our reserves, then," said Flury. He could feel malevolence resonating even now, when the storm was days away. "That storm is not dragon work. It is entirely unearthly altogether."

"Aren't dragons unearthly, though?" asked Cazak.

"Not in the way that storm is. No griffin could make something like that, either." Flury was talking in a tone of voice that echoed power, and no one dared doubt him. "It's like a story I once read, about a cleansing of the planet. Those who did not accept the natural protection the gods had given them in their magic and talents were wiped away completely. Those who use unnatural, evil powers to meet their goals. That magic cannot have been made by a mortal being."

"Why do you say so?" asked Elda.

"I just _know_," said Flury. "I can feel it."

"I'm not going to doubt you, Flury. Your magic is the strongest I've ever encountered. I've always underestimated you, to be honest. I won't be making that mistake again," Kit said respectfully. "Lead us into the peril, Flury. I don't have any doubts of your ability."

"But I'm confused," Cazak said, "you say the _gods_ are trying to kill us? That doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know, Cazak," Flury said, shaking his head. To Elda, there was nothing and no one nobler in the world. She was quite surprised with this feeling, as she did not put her trust blindly into one being. "The Mark, or Senera's Crest, or whatever it's called, has something to do with it. The empty griffins, too."

"You mean what happened to my true body?" Hesian asked, joining them. "They took the part of me that was _me_ and stuck in an entirely different body. I've been dreaming of seeing through my own griffin eyes again lately, and I think it's some sort of premonition. I've had them before."

"Why didn't you mention this until now?" Flury asked.

"Because I wasn't sure. But now I'm sure. Those griffins without anything within are the work of Senera's group, but are somehow being controlled by that storm."

"I see. It's slightly clearer now, but we must plan what we're going to do. It seems we have some enemies bigger than we thought."

"Obviously," said Blade. "So, Flury, what do we do?"

* * *

Author's Note:

Sometimes one wishes there were people likeFlury in one's own world. Wow, he finally told Elda! claps Oh, and for some reason I've had a slight inconsistency in those stupid medallion/collar things Senera's forces wear. The Mark, Senera's Crest, something of that sort. Oh well. Thank you for the reviews.


	12. Loyalty

"This seems to be going over well," said Night with a delighted smirk. "That Flury has no idea what he's in for."

"Brother, I must protest!" shouted Day from her enclosure. "I thought we had agreed that Flury was put in the world to do good!"

"He's gotten too close to the source of his powers," said Night, glaring at his sister. "If he becomes any stronger, our positions will be put into question."

"That wasn't your concern when we decided to make Flury. You were afraid that the higher ups would demote us to mortals for our failures! So you made something so benevolent and good that there was no question of our motives."

"He is still a mortal," said Night, "and so still subject to the weaknesses of mortals."

"We're equally susceptible! You're jealous, you fool!"

"How could I be jealous? He was created from us, and so we are still higher than he is."

"And yet you have still seen fit to trap me in this evil cage of darkness?" she said, touching the shadow bars of her prison. "The higher ups will question you for sure!"

"If I can get rid of Flury without their knowledge, we'll all be fine. Sister, he is weaker than us to the temptations of evil."

"You hypocrite! You don't call what you're doing evil?"

"I call it necessity."

"The gods will punish you, Night. We are but the Night and Day of one world in a million, easily replaced entities."

"Don't you ever want to be promoted? Don't you want to see the paradise that the gods rule from?"

"The gods have more responsibility than you can imagine," Day snarled. "They would never let one such as you be a god."

"If persuaded properly, they would," Night replied.

"I'm warning you, Brother, keep your place in the order of things! Don't meddle with the way of the worlds!"

"I've taken so many souls from that world that I could wage a war with any world," Night chuckled. "Sister, I have kept you alive out of mercy. Maybe you will see your errors when I am a god. I will bring Flury here, alive. I will weaken my storm, and I will bring his flesh and blood here in addition to his soul. He can join me, or perish."

"It has slowed down," said Blade, cupping another inquiry spell in his palms. "I don't understand."

"Neither do I," said Flury, sitting quietly and looking into the distance. Flury, Blade, and Kit were all sitting on the roof of Camilan's dormitories. They had been resting in the desert city for three days, and were expecting the onset of the storm at any time. The mass of spinning air, like a cyclone and yet not a cyclone, had circled itself several times, slowing more and more each day. It was lingering fifteen miles from the city, as horrific a malevolence as ever.

Flury was glossy and rested once more, healed in almost every way. Bolero had relocated to the city itself, where she was treated with wary respect. She was in the small area that Elda and Flury had been flying a few days ago. Elda was currently below in Hesian's room, sleeping. She was healed as well, golden rather than mud-colored.

Finn, Corkoran, Myrna, Derk and Querida had also been rested, and were preparing a translocation spell to the coast. They had received a message from a curious flying pigeon that Deucalion and his entire force were on their way across the ocean now, and needed direction to the desert city. It seemed that Senera's forces had been found by one of Deucalion's advance guard, and that every single one of them was dead, save for a lone griffin called Harmad, who had gladly joined them.

Cazak and Callette were staying with Flury and his group, who were taking steps to destroy the storm. The two griffins were bright-eyed and alert, and though they were no use when it came to magic, they were formidable adversaries.

"I'm worried, Flury," said Hesian, emerging onto the roof from the stairs the occupied the side of the building. "I still want to come with you."

"Hesian, you can't fly," said Flury, looking at his friend sadly. "I think you should stay here to guard the city. Strong magic will be needed."

"That's right, you will need strong magic. I'm coming with you, Flury," the fox hissed. "You think I would come this far with you and stand to be left behind? I think not."

"Hesian, none of us have much of a chance of winning against something like this."

"Flury, I need to tell you something," said Blade, who had been looking strangely at his inquiry spell for the past ten minutes or so. "I think that storm is- is after _you_."

"What?" squawked Flury. "That doesn't make any sense! Me?"

"Send your own inquiry spell," suggested Kit. Flury gathered light to his talons, forming it into an orb of radiance.

"You will find out the purpose of that anomaly," Flury whispered sternly to it. A pair of black, shiny eyes opened on the surface of the light, and a small mouth opened: "I'll try," it said softly.

"You'll accomplish your goal," he repeated. "You will find the purpose of that anomaly. Who has created it? Who controls it? You will find the answers." He stood on his hind legs, throwing the talon that held the spell back far behind him. He hurled it as hard as his muscles could manage, adding a powerful shield and speed spell as it hurtled into the distance.

"Why did your spell have a face?" asked Blade curiously. "That's rather a strange touch to add."

"I didn't add it," said Flury. "My inquiry spells always do that."

"That's rather strange," said Blade, shaking his head.

"It definitely is," agreed Kit. "I could only do that if I did it knowingly." Flury shook his head, settling back into a crouch. The spell was taking rather long.

After a few more minutes, they all saw a burning ball of light flying toward them at a ridiculous speed.

"You overdid it," said Hesian, crouching behind Kit.

"A little bit," chuckled Flury, leaping into the air and plunging backward as the force of the spell hit him. He regained his balance with a few flaps of his wings, and landed gracefully on the roof, full of renewed vigor.

"What did you find?" he whispered to his spell. It looked at him, its eyes full of horror.

"The Night wants to break your spirit. He created the storm to bring you to his horrible castle of darkness," it sobbed. "It wants to kill your friends. It wants to kill Elda."

"It's a good thing I'm not afraid of the dark," Flury said to the little spell. "You've done well. Now go and rest." The light dissolved, and the little creature ceased to exist.

"Flury?" asked Hesian. Flury was frowning mildly at the torrent of sand that swirled in the distance.

"I'll teach the Night to break anyone's spirit," he said furiously. "Especially if it, or he, I suppose, wants to kill Elda. I'll leave tomorrow. I refuse to risk you if I alone can get through alive."

"Flury, leaving us behind isn't an option," said Blade, smiling. "You know that."

"You're rather stupid to think otherwise," said Kit.

"You can't come," said Flury morosely. "You'll be killed. They don't want to kill me- yet. I'm going alone."

"You're not," hissed a female voice from behind Flury. "You're stupider than I thought if you think you're leaving me behind."

"No," snarled Flury, whipping round to face Elda, "Never would I risk anymore lives, especially yours."

"I swear to the gods above, I'm going!" she screeched exerting her voluminous voice to its maximum volume.

"No, you're not!" Flury thundered in reply.

"I said I'm coming, and that's FINAL!" Elda screamed, nearly knocking Flury backward with her magically enhanced voice.

"Elda, I don't want to argue with you. Not now," Flury said pleadingly.

"Oh yes, now," she replied. "Do you honestly think that I would follow you around the world, halfway again, then fly around in circles with you if I didn't mean it?"

"Your pride has nothing to do with it!" Flury said, becoming truly angry now. He was the one who had done the following, not her. "I've kept you safe so far. I'm not going to undo the work I've already done."

"You forget that I'm your equal when it comes to magic," Elda hissed. "I'd fight to come with you if both of us weren't so direly needed."

"You're not his equal," said Kit from out of the blue. "I don't think any of us could match some of the things Flury has done, Elda."

"I'm going with him," she said, a trace of a whimper in her screech. "I'm not listening to anymore of this drabble."

"You're not coming," Flury said calmly.

"I'm not good with goodbyes," she said. "So I won't be saying any. We'll leave at dawn, Flury."

""Elda," he said weakly. "Please, consider for a moment what your death would do to my conscience."

"If my pride has nothing to do with it, then neither does your conscience, Flury. See you at dawn."

"No," he whispered. He had come out on the wrong end of the argument. "Why won't she see reason?" he asked himself, falling to the ground in a dead slump. "Where did I go wrong?"

"I think the question is, Flury," Blade chipped in, "Where did you go right? She's willing to follow you to the death. If that isn't enough for you, nothing will be."

"She'll die, Blade. She'll die," he replied weakly. "It doesn't make a difference." However, Flury felt comforted by the reassurance that he was so very loved.

"We'll all die, we'll all live," said Hesian, "We don't know what tomorrow will bring, my dear friend. I've already contacted Bolero, and she knows the circumstances."

"I don't want any help. If someone has to die, it should be," he said, whimpering slightly. He was distracted by a sudden buffet with someone's large talon.

"We won't hear anymore of this," said Kit. "For the strangest wizard in the world, Flury, you're sure a baby sometimes."

"Who left it up to you to determine that?" snarled Flury, reinvigorated by Kit's disrespect. Wait a second, he thought. _Disrespect_? Did he actually think he deserved respect? He was going farther as a wizard than he had ever thought possible. He was suddenly expecting his friends to show him respect. This thought hurt him more than anything Elda could say.

"I'm sorry," Flury said, shrinking to a smaller stance. "I won't stop any of you if it's what you truly want." He looked positively tortured by the thought.

* * *

Author's note: I apologize if this seems a disappointingly short chapter, but it needs to be broken at this point. Thank you again for your reviews. 


	13. Greed

A whole platoon of griffins, including Hesian riding proudly on Flury's shoulders and Blade hanging from Kit's talons, was headed for Night's storm. Bolero flew nearby, vigorous and renewed, white and full of fire. Flury felt both happiness and sorrow. He was sure his friends were flying into their deaths, but at the same time he hadn't known how dedicated to him they were. Elda was there, at his right. Kit, Blade, and Cazak were at his left. Callette flew next to her sister, both grim and determined.

"We're nearing it," Flury said. He could feel the malevolence of the vortex, sucking them in. He could also feel force acting against it. It took him a moment to realize that Elda was trying to neutralize it.

"Don't waste your energy," he said to Elda sharply. She smiled in a griffin way, but let the magic fall away.

Soon they were far too close for comfort, and Flury knew this was his time. He pulled magic from his reserves, questing for the source of the vortex's power. In a few seconds, he had it pinpointed. It wasn't in the storm, but the only way to get to it was by entering the storm. He felt horrid magics within the storm that would kill immediately, rendering a mortal creature unable to breathe. He also felt something targeted for him; a sort of armor that would protest him and only him if he entered. He pressed furiously, trying to locate the source spell of the armor as he signaled to his comrades to circle around, rather than flying directly toward it.

He felt a click. That was it! A cloak that hid one's mortality from the storm. "I'm going to armor you all with a spell," said Flury quickly. "Take down all your defenses." He felt them all do so (except Cazak and Callette, who were non-magic users) and proceeded to formulate his spell. It had to be special; it had to hide flesh and blood, to hide the force that was life itself. He smiled as he finalized the defenses around all of them. They all quested curiously with their senses to find out about this armor. Bolero had already erected her own shield, which was exactly the same as Flury's

"I don't understand this spell, Flury," called Blade. Flury felt him doing all the standard tests on the spell, but not finding results. Flury suddenly realized that Flury had been using a sort of magical sense he had never used before. He could actually feel and interact willingly with others' senses of magic.

"It'll work," Flury replied confidently. "At least," he whispered to himself, "I hope it will."

"It will," said Elda, who had evidently heard him.

"With Flury, who knows?" Hesian chuckled. Flury smiled, suddenly filled with a sense of well being. He wanted to make it through these trials. He was glad his friends were by his side.

"Get ready! Fly upward when we enter the vortex! Use whatever it takes!" Flury shouted, reinforcing his spells.

"Aye captain," said Blade. Flury was ballooning with confidence, his heart beating wildly and his stomach full of excitement.

And so they all entered the storm, and used their strength, magic, and anything else that resided in their minds and bodies to go up.

Flury felt the challenge on his wings, and he cast yet another spell, shooting upward like a missile into the clouds, grinning the entire time. Bolero was at his side, in the same mood.

The others made similar decisions, and Blade and Kit supported Cazak and Callette into the gate. For there was a gate, a grey gate of some foreign matter, and Flury was crushing the beams of the lock with sheer force of magic. He was overcome with momentary hopelessness. Then they were all through the gate, which closed with a snap behind them.

"Just as I expected," chuckled Night, leaning forward in his throne. Night was a little different to all of those who saw him, and Flury knew that he was. They all saw a griffin, save Blade, who saw a human in elegant dark clothing. His color varied, from gold to pink to black to blue, and his size also fluctuated even as they watched.

"Why don't you take down the illusion?" Flury asked. "I can see you're rather a vain fellow." A pulse in his own magic again; the weariness.

"Shut up, Flury," snapped Night. "I don't have time for you. I'm giving you a choice, understand?" As he spoke, everyone but Flury and Night disappeared. Flury gasped. He had not even felt the magic work.

"Who are you?" asked Flury, suddenly feeling rather weak.

"Night," shrugged the being. "I am Night, embodied." He let his illusory skin fall away, and Flury found himself looking at a human figure, albeit with blue-white skin and deeply black hair. He was clothed in a simple, yet elegant cloth, which looked as if it had been cut from the night sky itself. He stood up, showing an easy, powerful nature.

"You already know my name," said Flury. "Why have you brought me here?"

"Like I said, I'm giving you a choice."

"Between what?"

"Well, joining me or going against me," said Night smugly. "Not that you'd know anything about it. You've been too busy with those mortal idiots."

"And if I go against you?" asked Flury.

"You and your friends will all die painfully and slowly," said Night, gesturing expansively. "Same story every time, eh?"

"What would I be joining you in?" asked Flury.

"Overthrowing the gods of this world," said Night simply, leaning forward and smiling. Flury actually laughed, the very thought was so amusing. Who could entertain such thoughts?

"Shut up," Night hissed, snapping his fingers. Flury's beak snapped shut, rendered useless. He was _powerless_.

"_Not quite_," came a furious snarl in his mind. Two voices, one he knew and one he didn't.

"Brother, did you really think you could overcome me so easily?" asked the voices out loud, in unison.

"Day?" Night gasped. "But I—"

"Locked half of me up in a cage," the voices hissed. "You really think I'm that weak? Flury, you're stronger than him, for now! Don't let him twist the magic sideways like that!"

"Oh!" said Flury, as he jerked the spell upright, and off his beak altogether. "Bolero?"

"That's right! The Bolero of Days!" the voices merged into one, and a shining white woman appeared beside Flury, at counterpoint to Night.

"I had no idea you were that important!" Flury said in shock.

"Trust me, it's not really all that fun," she said, pushing loops of loose white hair behind her ears. Like Night, her clothing was simple and elegant; a slim, shining white dress. Her eyes, which were pale, pale blue, burned with suppressed energy. "It feels good to be whole again."

"One could only imagine," said Night dryly. "What do you expect to accomplish, Day? I've absorbed so many spirits that even both of you combined cannot defeat me."

"That's disturbing," said Flury. "What kind of power-crazed idiot are you?"

"Flury, you probably shouldn't goad him," advised Bolero (or Day as she was rightly revealed to be). "He really has taken all the outgoing spirits from this world of late."

"I see," said Flury thoughtfully. There had to be a way to utilize this to his advantage, but he needed time to work it out.

"_I don't know if that makes him weaker in any way. I'll give you some time, though. It can't hurt,_" Bolero intoned. He nodded with a swift jerk of his head.

"How did you think that any combination of mortal power could do anything to the gods?" asked Bolero, adopting a deferent tone and expression. "I don't understand."

"Mortals have something the gods don't," replied Night smugly. Flury remained silent, listening intently. "It's called evil."

"Depends on your outlook of what is and what isn't evil. We consider you evil, but you think you're being perfectly rational," she said, tossing her hair thoughtfully in a rather theatrical gesture. Flury had had enough of this. He sent a shockwave of energy silently in Night's direction, but Bolero turned toward him furiously and cancelled it with a wave of her immaculate hand.

"You fool!" she said, gasping. "That's not your power! Don't use it! You're reaching your limit!" Flury was extremely puzzled, and he cocked his head to the side as Night raised his eyebrows, in a way.

"I thought you said I was more powerful than that!" he cried.

"You're a mortal container for a great and terrible power," she replied, sighing. "You should have been told this long ago. You've been merely adding Twilight's powers to your own for most of your life, but you're starting to rely on it. If you use such great power in a pure form, it will destroy your mind. Naturally, you're a rather powerful mage on the human scale, though not as powerful as they all think you are. You've only used Twilight's powers fully a few times, but it's showing in the way you're thinking. You've become more and more rash as time has gone on, just as Twilight was in his lifespan."

"Twilight?" asked Flury, his voice cracking. He felt something snap within. His metaphorical backbone. "My power isn't my own?"

"No," said she, "it belongs to our brother, Twilight. The third child of the sky. When Twilight was taken from his post and sent beyond, we intercepted his soul with our own power, and transplanted it into a mortal body. A griffin, the form Twilight had always preferred. We created you to house Twilight's spirit, to improve your world. We also noticed the impact that Chesney had upon your world."

"So I'm just Flury?" he asked. He bowed his head, ashamed. He hadn't any great power to impress Elda with anymore. He was just Flury.

"Night wants Twilight to join him, but Twilight's personality is kept in check by yours. I think Night has already realized that Twilight doesn't agree with this idiotic plan." Flury felt, not for the first time, a feeling that wasn't his own. He nodded, and berated himself at the same time for ignoring these feelings for so long.

"Bolero," he said, "why can't Twilight leave me?"

"I think he might be able to, Flury," she said, her face contorting. "But I don't think he would risk your death to do that."

"I'd… die?" he said, pushing Twilight's indignity back. Twilight would have been angry at fate itself, but Flury's own personality could not deal with such knowledge. He made a decision, thinking it would be the first noble thing he'd ever done on his own.

"If it would save you…" he muttered, staring at his talents, feeling his body tense with anguish. "If it would save Elda, if it would save all of them… I'm willing to release Twilight." Bolero looked at him differently now. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she stepped toward the griffin. She crouched, taking his head between her hands.

"Never be so quick to throw away your life, Flurian Atreck. There may yet be a way. I would never let you die for my sake."

"How touching," Night said, rolling his eyes. "However, you two have chatted for long enough. This spirit absorption really does wear on my patience, and you've just broken it. Neither of you have power enough to oppose me, nor can you give me any sort of mental stimulation. You merely annoy me. Goodbye."

"Flury, don't let Twilight do anything!" Bolero said as they fell into an abyss of darkness. "There may yet be some virtue in the purity of my magic." She said this not to Flury, but to herself.

Light blossomed from her fingertips, shining white wings flowing from her shoulders.

"A vile mixture of unwilling magic cannot triumph, Night!" she shouted, a harpoon of gold appearing in one hand, a sword of silver in the other.

"The abyss will claim you eventually, even if it is not this day," came Night's voice as Bolero carried Flury through a shining portal of light.

They landed somewhere, though Flury could not possibly explain its location. They stood in a courtyard of iridescent stone, stars shining above, beneath, around them.

"Where are we?" asked Flury.

"This is where Night, Twilight and I prayed to the gods when we were together. It is a sad thing that both my brothers are gone."

"Twilight isn't gone," Flury replied, his familiar habit of shrinking returning with his bashfulness.

"Gods. I pray to thee, intercede for this extraordinary creature. Bring one more brother to assist me," Bolero said to the stars, ignoring Flury completely.

"I pray that my friends will live to see the world restored, once and for all. I pray that Twilight might leave my body and help Bolero. Hear my prayer," Flury pleaded in a voice that was almost less than a whisper.

Both harpoon and sword left Bolero's hands, flashing into nonexistence.

"What do we do?" Flury said as her arm curled round his neck. She wept silently for a moment, but steeled herself.

She smiled, her eyes taking on a dragonish quality once more. "We act against the sins of greed and impurity. The gods don't act upon my whims, Flury, but they will hear my cry!"


End file.
